As You Wish
by Cocoa-Akane
Summary: Will you do anything for love? Will you give up your friends? Will you turn against your school? Your enemy is now your ally. Your hater is now your lover. Choose. It's a war now.
1. Chapter 1: The Yule Ball

A/N: There WILL be ooc just a warning. This is a Dramione fanfic. There will be other pairings but the main couple is dramione. I do not own Harry Potter (of course) but I wouldn't mind owning Draco Malfoy (if you know what I mean ;) I know the yule ball doesnt take place during sixth year, but suck it up. it needs to take place around this time for future actions to be considered appropriate and ive always wanted to write a fanfic taking off at the yule ball.

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><p>Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini stepped through the doors of the Great Hall for the Yule Ball; however they stopped short when they saw the decorations that decked the Hall. It was literally an ice palace; giant icicles trimmed the sides and giant ice figures at each corner of the room and a smaller version in the punch bowls. The sky was snowing, but of course inside was completely snow-free. Decorating the walls were the House banners on the walls and the Hogwarts banner was at its usual place behind the High table. Twelve Christmas trees decorated with tinsels, ornaments, and acorns stood along the walls and beautiful sweet-smelling wreaths were more added decorations to the walls. Hundreds of small tables for six dotted the Great Hall instead of the usual four long House tables. Even the people who walked and danced around the Hall looked beautiful. The boys were dressed in nice dress robes that fit their bodies nicely. The girls wore beautiful long sweeping dresses of every color imaginable and their hair were styled elegantly. Each and every one of the students, however, wore similar masks because the Yule Ball this year is a Masquerade Ball. But this wasn't the best part of the magical night. The students of Hogwarts, fourth year and older, wore casual clothes before entering the Great Hall as they were told by their Head of Houses, but the moment they stepped inside, they were instantly adorned with handsome dress robes, beautiful ballgown dresses, glistening jewels, and silk masks. These masks prevented anyone from recognizing another and tongue-tied those who attempted to mention another's name. However, Draco knew who Blaise was because they entered the hall together. Neither of them bothered to look for a date, and it was encouraged to arrive without a date to add some "flair" to this magical and mysterious night.<p>

"This is amazing. The teachers sure have outdone themselves this year. And who came up with the idea for a masquerade? It's brilliant!" Blaise told Draco.

"I agree. It is quite amazing. I don't think my father has decorated our ballroom to look amazing like this before," Draco admitted looking around him, "And I would like to know who came up with the idea of the masquerade, too."

"Oh look. Teachers are recognizable. Guess they did that so students won't try to misbehave, huh? Boring." Draco was laughing at Blaise's comment and they walked over to the buffet table. Turkey, barbequed pork, stir-fried vegetables, different varieties of soup, salads, steak, Christmas pudding, apple pie, mounds of cakes, truffles, fruit punch, pumpkin juice, butterbeer, and more covered every inch of the tables, which were set up on either end of the Great Hall. Students were stacking their plates with food and quickly went to find a table to sit at. Everyone thought the masquerade was definitely an interesting idea and probably an easy way to make new friends unexpectedly. Draco did like the decorations and the idea of a masquerade, but thought that not knowing who anyone is was a pain. He had no intention of trying to be friends with anyone new, just in case they were _mudbloods._ Blaise and Draco got their food and found two seats at a table that already had a boy and a girl sitting there.

"Hey Draco, those girls that just walked in don't look bad at all."

"I have no intention of befriending anyone, especially, God forbid, that mudblood Granger."

"But you can't tell and what do you have against her anyways."

"Exactly and I just hate her. I'm going to be safe and not get too friendly with anyone."

"Well, we can talk to them. It doesn't mean being friends. I'll invite them over."

Blaise stood up and walked over to them quickly so as not to lose them in the growing crowd. Draco saw him say something and point at their table. The girls nodded and went with Blaise to get their food.

The moment Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley stepped through the doors of the Great Hall, they gasped in awe. Hermione wore a dress of dark blue that had a corset type bodice. A cluster of diamonds designed into small flowers gathered part of her skirt together to emphasize her small hips. Ginny wore a flowy white halter dress that showed her petite figure nicely and clashed beautifully with her long red hair. Hermione and Ginny headed to one of the buffet tables until Blaise, unrecognized by both Hermione and Ginny, stopped them and asked them to join him and his friend at their table. They gladly obliged. Hermione and Ginny got their plates of food and followed Blaise. The couple had already left the table to dance by the time Hermione and Ginny arrived with Blaise. Hermione took a seat beside Draco and Ginny sat next to her. Passing Draco, he bent down and whispered, "The redhead is really cute. I'll sit next to her. Have fun talking with the brunette. She's quite pretty, too," then went and sat down next to Ginny.

"Hello."

Draco ignored her.

"Hello."

Draco glanced sideways at her.

"Geez, you're quite rude. Can't you say hello?"

This time, Draco looked Hermione straight in the eyes. "Hello."

Hermione's breath was caught short when he looked into her eyes. She had never seen such beautiful silver eyes, but she also had never seen such sad and lonely eyes either. "Thank you," she said finally, breathlessly.

Hermione and Draco ate in silence. Blaise was talking nonstop to Ginny and Ginny was listening intently to Blaise's every word.

"I'm going to get something to drink. What do you want?" Hermione asked Draco.

"Nothing."

"Are you sure?"

"Butterbeer."

"What?"

"Get me butterbeer."

"Okay. I'll be right back." Hermione smiled to herself as she headed to the drinks. By this time, the food had been cleared and only fruit trays and different drinks dotted the table as refreshments during the dance. Hermione got two glasses of butterbeer and headed back.

"Here." Hermione placed the glass down next to his plate.

Draco took it and took a sip of it. Hermione started to laugh.

"You've got a mustache!" She took a napkin during Draco's pause of slight surprise. Hermione reached over and wiped away the butterbeer from above Draco's upper lips. Draco jerked suddenly facing her. They stared at each other for a few seconds until Draco looked away.

"Uh, sorry," Hermione also looked away blushing. _What was I doing? I don't usually act like this! That was mortifying!_ She placed the napkin down on the table and stared at her glass of butterbeer. She silently took small sips of her butterbeer and slowly fell into a small daydream. _She was sitting next to the Black Lake with a blonde boy. She couldn't see his face, but she felt safe and comfortable wrapped in his strong arms. The sun was blanketing them softly in the beautiful spring weather. The giant squid was gliding lazily along the surface in the middle of the lake. "It's beautiful here. I don't want this to end," she told the blonde boy. "Me, too." He was leaning down, inching closer and closer to her face. Their lips were mere millimeters away and…_

"Hey!"

Ginny woke Hermione from her reverie. She looked around wildly.

"What?"

"Geez. I called you like five times. You sure were in a deep daydream. Come on. Let's go dance?"

"I'm sorry. I was daydreaming. Uh… you go ahead. I want to finish my butterbeer."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Have fun."

"Okay. Bye."

Blaise grabbed Ginny's hand and went onto the dance floor. Hermione looked sideways at Draco. He was still sitting there, also sipping at his butterbeer.

"So, don't you want to talk?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Because I said so."

"Well, I want to talk. What House are you from?"

"Slytherin."

"Oh. Gryffindor here."

"Your friend is Gryffindor, too?"

"Yeah."

"Well your little friend just went to dance with my Slytherin friend. Will he be in for a surprise when he finds out the ginger is a Gryffindor."

"He knows."

"What?"

"He knows."

"I already heard what you said. What do you mean by 'he knows'?"

"That was the first thing they talked about. I overheard them."

"And you don't care?"

"Well, he seemed like a nice guy. And not all Slytherins are bad, I think. The House just has a bad reputation."

"You're a weird Gryffindor."

"I don't care." Hermione smiled, "So what do you like to do during your free time?" Hermione found it quite difficult to talk to Draco at first, but after around fifteen minutes, Draco was a bit more comfortable talking to Hermione. They talked about their likes and dislikes, Hermione not mentioning how sad she feels when a certain Draco Malfoy bullies her and Draco not mentioning how much he didn't like mudbloods. Hermione talked about how much she loved her parents and Draco talked about how much he loved his mother and didn't mention his father. Hermione didn't question his lack of mentioning his father. They talked about classes and about teachers and the Houses. Both Draco and Hermione each thought to themselves, "This feels great, talking to someone else who has the same thoughts as me. I can have an intelligent conversation about certain difficult subjects now." After awhile of talking, Draco remembered something he had wondered when he first entered the Great Hall.

"Oh, I have a question, do you know who came up with the idea of a masquerade? It's absolutely brilliant, although the anti-recognition charm is a pain."

"I did."

"What? Really?"

"Yes. I haven't told anyone except my best friend and she hasn't told anyone. This was a secret amongst the teachers. And plus I didn't want to be bombarded with questions or any of that sort of thing."

"You're amazing, you know that?"

"Thanks," Hermione said blushing a deep shade of pink. Draco smiled.

They continued to talk about everything and at 11:50, Professor McGonagall announced that the last dance would be played in a couple minutes before the masks were removed at midnight and everyone's eyes would be "opened."

"Um… You want to dance with me?"

"What?" Hermione looked at Draco in bewilderment.

"Do you want to dance with me?"

"I heard the first time. I'm just… surprised. Sure I will dance with you."

They stood up and Draco took Hermione's hand, her slender fingers fitting perfectly in the palm of his hand. They went onto the dance floor with the rest of the school. Hermione place her arms around his neck and Draco placed his arms around her waist. Moving slowly side to side in time to the music, it was as if time had stopped for Draco and Hermione. Draco had never felt this way about a girl, and especially a girl he didn't know. He had sworn that he wouldn't befriend anyone at the Yule Ball, but now he's fallen in love. Hermione, for the first time, felt like a woman dancing with this boy an she knew she had feelings for him. She could just stare into those eyes forever and wished with all her heart that she could heal him of the sadness and loneliness in his eyes. Neither of them knew that they would fall for someone of their respective rival House or fall in love with an unknown person. And neither of them expected to see the other when the masks disappeared at the strike of midnight.

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><p>AN: hope you enjoyed it! Leave a review please! I have like 2 or 3 more chapters written right now. so they will be loaded up real soon.


	2. Chapter 2: The Aftermath

The fact that Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger were dancing together was enough for their entire surroundings to fall into a hushed silence. Even Draco and Hermione did not register the fact quickly enough and continued to stand there in each other's arms, staring dumbfounded at each other before falling backwards—Draco, paler than usual, fell onto the floor and Hermione, blushing a bright red, tripped on her hem and was caught by Harry Potter, who had hurried over the moment he saw his friend swaying dangerously on her feet. The entire Hall was staring at either Draco or Hermione. Even the teachers were silently watching them for they knew how much Draco and Hermione hated each other. After awhile, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle went over and helped their leader Malfoy up. Ron and Ginny Weasley rushed over and blocked Hermione from view. The golden trio and Ginny walked quickly out the Great Hall and Crabbe, Goyle, Blaise, and Malfoy left the Hall, too, a few minutes after those Gryffindors left. Whispers broke out as soon as the targets of a brand- new gossip topic left the Great Hall.

"Malfoy? With Granger?"

"Was that really Malfoy and Hermione?"

"That's crazy!"

"How in bloody hell did that happen?"

Everyone's question was how the Gryffindor Princess Hermione Granger ended up in the arms of the infamous Slytherin Prince Draco Malfoy.

-o-

Draco Malfoy fell onto his four- poster bed. He was still in shock and his friends just continued to stand there until Blaise spoke up.

"I'm sorry. I honestly had no idea that the two girls were Ginny and Granger."

"Not your fault. I said I wouldn't become friendly with anyone and I did. And it had to be Granger that I became friendly with. Argh! What can I do now? I can't show my face again! Thank god it's the holidays right now, so there's no class!"

"Draco, do you want me to walk around school and see what the situation is like out there? I could also ask Ginny to tell me about what's going on inside Gryffindor about this."

"Ginny? You're on a first-name basis?"

"What? Er… yeah…" Draco was surprised to see Blaise blushing as he said this. "I think I fancy her, but I know it's hopeless. She has eyes for Potter."

"You fancy her. The Weasley girl. And you are going to make Potter your rival." Draco said this all not as questions, but as statements. It sounded weird saying it out loud. His best friend fancies his rival's love interest. Everyone knew that Potter fancied the Weasley girl and so Draco was surprised to find out that Blaise did too.

"Well, yeah. I do. I've been talking to her all night and I really like the way she talks and thinks. She's kind and polite, but she is determined and knows what she wants unlike other girls who are quite fickle about things."

Draco sat on his bed pondering his friend's words. Draco, too, had talked to Hermione all night. He, too, liked the way she talked and thought about different subjects. She was kind and determined and she, too, knew what she wanted. Hermione _was_ different than the other girls; that was for sure. Hermione was the first girl Draco found to be able to have a decent intelligent conversation with. Scratch that—it wasn't a decent conversation; it was a superb conversation. She knew everything from Charms to Defense Against the Dark Arts, from Care of Magical Creatures to Arithmancy.

"All the clues were so obvious!" Draco suddenly yelled, startling Blaise, Vincent, and Gregory, "She was brilliantly intelligent! No girl in this school is that smart! I am so stupid!"

"It was the spell," Gregory Goyle finally spoke.

"Yeah. The spell in the Great Hall was there so we can't recognize anyone," Vincent Crabbe speaking, too.

"They're right, Draco," Blaise agreed.

Draco pulled off his shoes and his robes. He knew they were right. He couldn't blame himself, but he was so furious at himself for getting "too friendly."

"I'm going to sleep."

"Good night."

Draco pulled the blanket over his head and after a long time, fell into a fitful slumber.

-o-

Hermione Granger was crying into her pillow, while Ginny sat there patting her back, trying to calm her best friend down.

"I can't believe I talked and laughed and danced with him! I actually thought for a moment that I fancied him!"

"Hermione, it's ok. No one blames you for anything. There was a spell cast over everyone, so there was no way you could've known that he was Malfoy."

"I know, but it's so embarrassing! How can I face the school? For the first time, I'm glad there's no classes!"

She thought back to that night. He was so mean at first, she should've known to keep away, but she had pestered him to talk. But his eyes! She couldn't get those beautiful, yet sad and lonely, silver eyes out of her mind. It was as if they were burned into her mind. Hermione started to cry again when she remembered laughing with him, remembered the wonderful philosophical conversations they shared, remembered the way he would look at her and smile.

"Ginny, what do I do? I fancied him!"

"But do you still?"

"No! Of course not!"

"Then, why worry?"

"Because it happened. That's what's so mortifying! I'm absolutely horrified that I felt any attraction to Malfoy."

"It's okay, Hermione. I can see what the school is doing tomorrow about this matter. I will tell you what the school is thinking. And I'm sure Harry and Ron would like to help you, too."

"Did you see the look on Ron's face? He was so angry!"

"But not at you!"

"Of course he was angry at me!"  
>"How could you think that, Hermione? He's one of your best friends. The one he <em>is<em> angry with, though, is Malfoy and Malfoy alone, not you."

"I can't leave this room tomorrow! I just can't!"

"Oh come on, Hermione! This isn't the girl I know! You're the girl who stood up to a troll and helped Harry get to Quirrel in your first year! You're the girl who punched Malfoy in your third year! You're the girl who stood up to Umbridge last year and helped us organize Dumbledore's Army!"

Hermione looked up at Ginny with her teary eyes. Ginny smiled at her. Wiping her eyes, Hermione sat up and gave Ginny a big hug.

"Thank you."

"What are friends for?"

-o-

The next morning, Hermione, Ginny, Harry, and Ron went down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Heads turned when they walked in, and Hermione felt strangely shy as she walked over to her seat at the Gryffindor table. She noticed, sitting in her usual seat that faced the Slytherin table, that Malfoy was absent, and Crabbe and Goyle looked relatively lost without their leader. Hermione saw Zabini enter the Great Hall and head over to the Slytherin table. His best friend, Malfoy, wasn't with him.

"Looks like Malfoy isn't as brave as you, Hermione. He didn't even bother showing up for breakfast," Ginny pointed out.

"Yeah," Hermione said with a small sigh.

Ron raised his eyebrow at Hermione. "Um, was that a sigh I heard?"

"Huh? What? Of course not, Ron!"

"Well, it sounded like a sigh, as if you were sad he wasn't here."

"You are so stupid Ronald Weasley! Must you make it difficult for both of us?"

Harry and Ginny flinched. They knew that when Hermione used Ron's full name, she was really angry and would lash out in anger very soon.

"I'm not making it difficult! It's you who is making things difficult! Malfoy? How the hell did you end up with Malfoy yesterday night?"

Everyone stopped talking to listen. They wondered the same question and wanted answers, too.

"You should know! There was a spell! I didn't know it was him!" Hermione screamed at him, "No one could possibly have known it was Malfoy! Why must you be a downright idiot!"

"Well, he should've been enough of a git for you to notice!"

"Ron has a point, Hermione. Malfoy must've a downright git." This time Harry spoke.

"He wasn't a git last night for your information! He was really sweet and nice and much more intelligent than you, Ronald Weasley, by a long shot!"

Realizing what she had said, Hermione quickly covered her mouth, blushing a furious shade of pink. Whispers broke out through the Great Hall and Ron and Harry stared stupidly at Hermione. Hermione was extremely embarrassed and ran out the Hall, abandoning her breakfast. Blaise Zabini stared after her with a curious expression on his face. Then, he turned to see Ginny racing after her best friend. The Great Hall broke into loud whispers.

"Did she say he was nice and sweet?"

"I think she did!"

"That's impossible!"

"Malfoy? Nice and sweet?"

The Christmas holidays this year was a time for the biggest gossip that belonged on the list along with Harry Potter, cheating to become a Triwizard champion and Harry Potter, the Heir of Slytherin.

"Will Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy become a couple?"

-o-

Blaise returned to the Slytherin common room. He saw Draco lying on the couch in front of the glowing fireplace, reading a book. Draco was always reading a book whenever he was alone during his free time.

"_Romeo and Juliet_, huh?" Blaise asked looking at the cover.

"So what?"

"Kind of seems like what's going on in the school right now."

"We are not in love!" Draco yelled.

"Calm down! I was only kidding!" Blaise laughed, falling off the couch to avoid Draco's fist.

"Whatever. So what's it like out there?" Draco asked leaning back on the arm of the couch.

"Well, the school is gossiping about you two. And you wouldn't guess what happened among that 'golden trio'. It's quite alarming actually."

"I'm afraid to hear."

"Weasley was yelling at Granger about last night. And Potter decided to join in too, but against Granger. Of course, she wasn't too happy and burst. Her exact words were, 'He wasn't a git last night for your information! He was really sweet, nice, and much more intelligent than you, Ronald Weasley, by a long shot.' Of course, that threw everyone by surprise. Even she was shocked and clapped her hands over her mouth and hurried out the Hall as quickly as she could. Ginny ran after her, but returned alone a few minutes later. I assume she couldn't find Granger."

"Granger said that about me?"

"Yeah, but everyone was surprised. They don't quite believe that you can be, quote, 'nice and sweet.'"

Draco didn't reply and continued to sit there stunned. _Granger said I was nice and sweet? But I've always bullied her and I always call her Mudblood. Why did she defend me?_

"Why did she defend me?" Draco asked aloud.

"I honestly don't know. In my honesty, I was quite surprised to hear her say that, too. Everyone knows she hates you and you hate her."

Draco didn't say anything. He just continued to sit there. He opened his book and tried to read it, but to no avail. Slamming his book shut, he stood up and left the common room. Draco could hear Blaise calling after him, asking where he was going, but continued walking and ignored Blaise. He knew the secret hallways of the castle due to his nightly escapades, so he avoided the rush of students coming back from breakfast. He arrived in front of an empty wall and thought, as loudly and clearly as he could, "I need a place where I can avoid the crowd of gossiping students, so I can be left to my thoughts and be free to read." Opening his eyes, a door had appeared before him. Draco placed a hand on the handle and pushed the door open and entered the room.


	3. Chapter 3: The Beginning

A/N: Sorry that this chapter is a little bit short. To make up for it, I'll make the next chapter longer. Enjoy!

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><p>The door disappeared from behind him when he closed the door again. The room was furnished with soft sofas and armchairs, fluffy pillows, a giant fireplace, and shelves upon shelves of books. After choosing a book off one of the shelves, Draco walked over to a giant armchair situated directly in front of the fire and stopped short. Sitting in the armchair, fast asleep, was none other than Hermione Granger. <em>No wonder the Weasley girl couldn't find her. She's hidden in the Room of Requirement.<em> For some reason, Draco wasn't angry or surprised to see Hermione there. He was sad. He stood there staring at her sleeping soundly, oblivious that Draco Malfoy was standing next to her. He didn't want to be a creeper and watch her sleep, so he turned around and found comfortable armchair near one of the bookshelves.

He read through a few books before realizing it was past noon and he was very hungry. As if out of nowhere, a small table appeared directly in front of him. It was a simple lunch—a large sandwich, soup, apples, and pumpkin juice. Before taking a bite of his sandwich, he glanced over to the armchair Hermione Granger was still fast asleep on. _It's amazing how she can sleep so much._ When Draco was halfway through his apple, Hermione started stirring in her sleep. Draco stopped mid- bite and tried to be as quiet as he could as he placed his apple down. He stood up and walked over to armchair.

"Hey, wake up. It's lunchtime."

"Hmm?" Hermione stretched her arms over her head. "Ginny?"

"Do I sound like a girl to you?"

Hermione stopped mid-stretch and snapped her eyes open. A high-pitch girl scream echoed through the room. Hermione looked like she was trying to become part of the armchair she was sitting on and Draco had his hands covering his ears and a look of pain was etched on his face.

"Was that quite necessary, Granger?"

"What the bloody hell are you doing here?"

"I would like to know the same thing, you filthy mudblood. How did you find this room?"

"I've always known about it! Now answer my question. What are you doing here?"

"Trying to hide from the school. I assume you are too?"

"Yes."

"You sleep a lot. And you snore."

"I do not snore!"

"I was sitting here the whole time reading. I should know," Draco fibbed, wearing a smirk on his face.

"Wipe that stupid smirk off your face, you evil git." Hermione was blushing furiously.

"That's not a very nice thing to say," Draco said, still smirking.

"And when have _you _ever said a nice thing?" Hermione raised her eyebrow.

"Ouch, that hurts," Draco pretended to be in pain, clutching his chest and grimacing. Hermione laughed, but died away as quickly as it came.

Awkward silence.

"So, I guess you know about what's going on with the school if you decided to hide in here?" Hermione finally asked.

"Yeah. Blaise told me."

"Okay."

"And he told me about what you said to Weasley during breakfast."

"Get away." Hermione said, looking away.

"Why?"

"Get away."

"Are you embarrassed?"

"Get away."

"It's nothing to be embarrassed about. I'm actually quite flattered."

"Get away!"

Draco paused looking at Hermione with a look of curiosity mingled with something like sadness.

"As you wish," Draco said and he retreated to his own comfy armchair and pulled another book from the bookshelf near him. He was halfway through the second page, when Hermione spoke up in a whisper.  
>"I'm sorry."<p>

"For what?"

"For telling you to get away when you didn't do anything."

"I don't care."

"Why are you acting nice right now?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"No, I don't know. Why are you being nice, instead of slapping me across the face?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know either."

"I don't know either."

-o-

"Harry, Ron. Have you seen Hermione anywhere? I've looked everywhere for her and I can't find her. She's not at Hagrid's or by the lake or in her room or the bathrooms or any classroom. Not even here in the library."

"That's weird," Harry said has he looked up from his potions essay, "where could she go? She can't just disappear out of nowhere."

"Yes, she could," Ron said disgruntled.

"What? Where?" Ginny looked at him in surprise. "I've been everywhere already."

"You haven't been to the Room of Requirement," Ron stated.

"Of course! It was so obvious! Come on, guys. Let's go find Hermione," Harry said scooting back from the table and standing up quickly.

"Hey, I overheard you were looking for Granger?" Blaise Zabini stepped out from behind the nearest bookshelf and walked over to the table, "I can't find Draco either. I'll help you look for Granger if you help me look for Draco."

"No thanks, Zabini. We think we know where she is already," Ron said rudely.

"Sure, we'll help you," Ginny said.

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, Ron, can you stop being such a git once in a while. Zabini hasn't done anything to us."

"He's a _Slytherin_."

"So?"

"He's bad!"

"Well, then. Don't help us look for Hermione if you don't want somebody helping."

"Fine! I'll stay here and write my essay!"

"Hey, Ron. Come on. Hermione is our best friend, isn't she?" Harry asked.

"I don't want anything to do with a Slytherin. And I do not want to help look for Malfoy."

"Fine by me," Blaise told Ron, "You stay here and Potter, Ginny, and I will find Granger for you and find Draco for me."

Ginny followed Blaise and Harry took one look at Ron, who refused to look up from his potions essay, and followed Ginny and Blaise.

"You said you had an idea where Granger was?"

"Yeah. I think she may be in a special room that only appears under certain requirements."

"The Room of Requirement?"

"That's it! How do you know about it?"

"Draco and I hide stuff in there all the time. And it's also a place where he likes to go to read whenever he can't find a quiet place to read."

"Malfoy reads?" Harry questioned.

"Yeah, he does. He loves it. I'm pretty sure he's read almost every book in the library and no doubt every book he could lay his hands on in the Room of Requirement."

"Sounds like Hermione," Ginny pointed out.

"Yeah, he does sound like her," Harry said, "Wait. You said Malfoy goes to the Room of Requirement whenever he can't find a quiet place to read, right? Well, I'm quite sure that right now, it'll be hard to find a quiet place to read. Do you think he's in the Room of Requirement?"

"But Hermione is in there."

"It could be possible Draco is in there with her."

"We'd know if Hermione and Malfoy were in there together. There'd be someone in the hospital wing by now because they'd probably tear each other apart at first sight," Harry said, "They don't like each other at all."

"That's true," Ginny replied.

Blaise said nothing.

"We're here. So what do we do? We need to know exactly what they would need to ask to get in." The trio had arrived at the blank wall. Now that they had arrived at the entrance to the Room of Requirement, the problem that faced them now was how to get in. It was a wide range of possibilities that could've been used to get in.

"Well, Hermione wanted to get away from the school, I guess?" Ginny wondered.

"And Draco was reading when I saw him in the common room earlier, but he slammed his book shut and just left."

"Maybe it has something to do with those clues?" Harry thought aloud.

"Could be."

"Maybe Hermione, and Malfoy, wants a place to get away from the students and a quiet place to read?"

"Let's try it," Harry grinned at Ginny.

_We want a place where we can escape from the students of this school and have a quiet place to read._

"Harry! Look!"

Harry opened his eyes.

"It worked! You are brilliant, Ginny!"

"Amazing, Ginny."

"Let's go in."

Ginny opened the door and walked inside. Harry and Blaise followed suit. They walked a few steps towards the sofa and stopped. They saw Hermione fast asleep in the armchair directly in front of the fire and Draco leaning on the side of the same armchair, a book open next to him, also fast asleep. Their heads were resting next to each other; Hermione's resting on the cushioned arm and Draco's leaning back next to hers.

"I'm glad Ron isn't here. He would've killed Malfoy by now," Ginny whispered still staring at Draco and Hermione.

"Yeah. But I don't like that they're sleeping so close to each other. What do we know Malfoy could've done to her?" Harry growled softly.

"Draco wouldn't hurt her," Blaise said softly.

"What?" Ginny and Harry both looked at Blaise with surprise.

"I'm not a good judge of character or anything, but last night, he was just sitting on his bed pondering about the events of that night and he didn't get angry at Granger, he was angry at himself about ending up being friends. He said that he ended up being friends with Granger. Isn't that odd? And this morning, he had a look of… relief, I guess, when I told him that Granger had called him 'nice and sweet.'"

"I think you may have misunderstood. You must know Malfoy hates Granger," Harry told Blaise.

"He doesn't hate her."

"Er, excuse me?" Harry asked.

"Haven't you noticed how it's only Granger that he bullies out of all the muggle-borns in this school?"

"So he really hates her."

"I understand. I didn't expect you to know about that, Zabini."

"What?" Harry looked at Ginny with a questioning look.

"Well, among us girls, we say that when a boy singles out a girl and acts mean towards her, it is because he likes her. He is too afraid to be anything other than mean because he doesn't want the girl to realize he likes her. So you're saying this could be the reason Malfoy is so horrible to Hermione all the time?"

"Ginny, that was quite confusing to understand. But from what I can make out, I think you're reading to much into this."

"She's right, Potter. But let's leave first to allow them to rest peacefully and I'll explain."

Harry glanced back at the sleeping forms in front of the fire and followed Blaise and Ginny out the door.

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><p>AN: Please don't forget to leave a review. I want to receive reviews. It's a bit of a motivation for me to keep writing. Did you notice me dissing Twilight in the beginning? If you didn't read it again. If you still can't see it, *cough*review*cough*


	4. Chapter 4: The Fight

A/N: As promised, a longish chapter. Now it might take a few days for the next few chapters to get written. Most likely chapter 5 will be uploaded in two to three days. Hopefully. I've got a good length so far for chapter 5 but not long enough. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

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><p>Hermione was first to wake up from her sleep. She didn't know what time it was; all she knew was that she was happier than usual after waking up. <em>Something smells good, kind of like mint.<em> Opening her eyes, Hermione looked around and didn't see anything other than the roaring fire in the fireplace. Sitting up she saw someone leaning on her chair. Hermione peered over the arm and gasped at the sight of the tall skinny blonde boy. _Malfoy! ... Oh yeah. I was talking to him right before falling asleep._ She calmed down from her initial shock, a natural reaction that her body had developed upon seeing Draco Malfoy. As if the Room new what she wanted, a clock appeared on the mantel over the fireplace. It was already 8:55 pm.

"Shoot. It's almost curfew," Hermione muttered.

She glanced over at Draco. Not wanting to wake him up when he was sleeping so soundly, she covered him with her own Gryffindor robe, knowing that the robe would be a hindrance as she tried to sneak back to her dorm, and left quietly. Hermione took one last look at the blonde boy sleeping on the floor, and closed the door with a pang in her chest. She felt as if she shouldn't be leaving him alone. But Hermione still left Draco alone and headed to Gryffindor tower.

Hermione entered the hole behind the Fat Lady portrait and saw Harry and Ron sitting in front of the fire playing a game of wizard's chess.

"Hey," Hermione said as she walked over to her best friends.

"Hermione!" Harry looked up and exclaimed.

"Hey," Ron muttered.

"Sorry for running out on you guys like that this morning, but I still don't appreciate how you reacted this morning, Ron."

Ron didn't say anything.

"He's just bitter, Hermione, don't let it bother you."

"Okay, I will try not to. I'm feeling better now though. I just needed some time alone, so I just read and took a nap."

" 'Time alone' my ass," Ron mumbled.

"What?" Hermione looked at him.

"You weren't alone. Malfoy was with you. I can't believe you'd rather stand up for that guy. You defended him, then, you spend the day with him, and now you're lying to us?"

"What are you talking about?" Hermione was panicking.

"They found you in the Room of Requirement—Harry, Ginny, and Zabini. You were sleeping next to Malfoy."

"Hermione! We aren't angry! Honestly we aren't!" Harry said quickly when he saw angry sparks in Hermione's eyes.

"Well, obviously Ronald is angry at me! I didn't lie! I said I _needed_ alone time, I didn't say I _had_ alone time! Honestly, Ronald, you are so infuriating!"

"Why are you so interested in Malfoy? He's a foul lousy git!"

"I didn't say I was interested in Malfoy! When did I say that?"

"Well, you defended him this morning and then you spend all day with him? You do know that people noticed that you two were missing all day, and you just happened to be alone together?"

"He was the one who walked in. I was asleep and I didn't know he was in there until he woke me up after he ate his lunch!"

"You could have left him instead of staying there and talking with him and then falling asleep again with him there! It's as if you like him!"

Hermione was so angry she could feel her blood boiling. Harry hurriedly grabbed her wrist as she raised her hand, prepared to slap Ron across the face.

"Oh! So you're going to hit me now? Like you did Malfoy in third year? Do you hate me now?"

"Yes! I do! Why must you be such a downright foul git, Ronald Weasley? It's _my_ life, not yours!"

Hermione could feel tears burning her eyes. Ron glared at her with cold eyes that hurt her deeply. He stood up from the table, pushed through the gathering crowd, and went up the stairs to his dorm. Harry loosened his grip on Hermione's wrist and Ginny came over to give Hermione a hug. Hermione cried on Harry's shoulder, oblivious to the crowd that had arrived during her argument with Ron. They were all curious about the relationship that was happening between Hermione and Draco, and what kind of relationship they had that could tear the "golden trio" apart.

-o-

Draco Malfoy awoke to find himself alone. Strangely, it hurt him. _Why am I always alone?_ He stood up, his back aching from sleeping in a sitting position. He glanced at the clock over the fireplace and saw it was eleven o'clock.

"It's past curfew. I don't think I want to go back tonight, though," he said to himself. Standing up, Hermione's robe fell off of him. Draco picked up the Gryffindor robe and stared at curiously. He folded it neatly and hugged it tightly to his chest, her scent clung strongly to the robe. _Why does my chest hurt? Maybe I'm hungry or I'm still tired. _Draco sat down on the chair that Hermione was sleeping in earlier. Her scent still lingered there. He inhaled deeply. _Why do I miss her? I hate her. But, I just don't know anymore._ He closed his eyes and remembered the way she kindly smiled at him and the way she looked at him with her deep, warm, chocolate- brown eyes. To his surprise, Draco felt tears on the brim of spilling from his eyes. He quickly rubbed his eyes. He was taught not to show emotions of weakness and sadness was one of them. _I'm always alone. Why? I don't want to be alone._ Suddenly, Draco heard music. He opened his eyes and saw a music box sitting on the small table next to the chair. It was open and inside was a sheet of paper. There was only one word written:

_**Humperdink.**_

Draco stared at the sheet of paper. Humperdink? What the hell is that? He looked at the music box again and saw a small picture of Hermione. He picked it up and stared at the picture. She was smiling up at him and her eyes shined with laughter. Draco pocketed the picture inside his robe. The music box stopped playing. Picking it up to wound it up again, Draco saw a lion on the lid of the music box.

"A lion. Gryffindor lion. Hermione. Humperdink."

Realizing what he needed to do, Draco put the slip of paper in his pocket and left the Room of Requirement. He walked through the dark corridors of Hogwarts as quietly and as quickly as he could. _Dammit, where is that portrait? I know it's around here somewhere._ Finally, after approximately thirty minutes of searching, he arrived at the Fat Lady portrait and he was grateful that he didn't run into any teachers or Mr. Filch.

"Humperdink."

"Hmm?" The Fat Lady grunted as she woke up. Staring down at him, she said disgruntingly, "What are you doing up at this time?"

"Humperdink."

"Alright, alright."

The Fat Lady swung the portrait open and Draco crawled through the hole in the wall. This was the first time he saw the inside of Gryffindor tower. It was empty except for a flat-faced ginger cat lying on the rug in front of the fire. He looked around the scarlet and gold interior of the common room. It looked much cozier than the Slytherin common room. Although the Slytherins had fine furniture, it didn't seem as home-like as the Gryffindor common room. Draco saw two staircases—one on his left and another on his right. He took the staircase on the left and opened the first door he saw. He heard loud snoring. He assumed this was a boys' dormitory. He continued opening doors and realized all the rooms on this side of Gryffindor tower were only boys' dormitories, unlike the Slytherins where every other floor was the opposite gender. Draco climbed down the flights of stairs until he arrived back in the common room. He then headed over to the other staircase. Before he could make it to the first landing, the stairs transformed into a smooth slide. Draco slipped and fell on his face and slid down to where he started. He heard footsteps rushing down the stairs, which had returned back to its original form, but before he could stand up and run away, he heard a girl's voice yell at him.

"It's a boy! He was trying to get into the girls' dormitories!"

Draco turned to stare at the girl in panic—there must be some sort of alarm installed in case a male tried to enter the girls' dormitories. _Shit!_ He realized he was still wearing his Slytherin robes.

More Gryffindor girls appeared behind her.

"It's a Slytherin!

"It's Malfoy!"

More footsteps echoed down the stairs and this time, there were footsteps coming from the boys' dormitories too. Draco turned to make a run for it. He burst through the hole in the wall, but almost half of the Gryffindors had seen him already, had seen Draco Malfoy, in Gryffindor tower.

"That was Malfoy!"

"What was he doing here?"

"How did he get in?"

In ten minutes, most of the Gryffindors were gathered in the common room. The events that had happened that night would keep them up all night. Having any student from another house inside Gryffindor tower rarely ever happened. Having a Slytherin student in Gyffindor tower _never_ could happen, especially if that Slytherin was Draco Malfoy. Hermione and Ginny appeared at the foot of the stairs both wearing red dressing gowns. All eyes turned towards Hermione.

Lavender walked towards Hermione and stood before her.

"So, Hermione. You thought it'd be fine to give Malfoy our password?"

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Malfoy was spotted in Gryffindor tower. And he was trying to get up to the girls' dorms. That's why the alarm went off," Romilda said standing nearby.  
>"He was here? In Gryffindor tower?"<p>

"Yes," Lavender said, "So what are you playing at? You can't give our password to someone not in Gryffindor, especially a Slytherin."

"I didn't."

"As if we would believe that. It's obvious there's something going on."  
>"Just because we danced yesterday? You all should know that there was no way I could know who he was! There was a spell cast over all of us! Not even you knew he was Malfoy until midnight! There's nothing going on between us!"<p>

"But then you go defend him, make one of your best friends upset, and spend all day with Malfoy? Seems like a lot more than 'nothing.'"

"If Hermione says there's nothing going on, there's nothing going on!" Ginny yelled.

Hermione looked at Ginny with a giant "thank you" in her eyes.

"Don't lie to us, too. We heard. You saw her alone with Malfoy earlier today. How can you not say there's not something going on?"

"You see her with Harry and Ron all the time since their first year, but you don't say there's something going on. You just say they are best friends. Why can't Hermione spend one day with someone else without having everyone attack her?"

Lavender couldn't say anything, nor could anyone else.

"Now go back to bed all of you," Ginny told everyone.

"I don't trust you," Lavender muttered as she passed Hermione.

"Ginny, I'm going. I don't think I'm welcome back in my dorm."

"But Hermione, where will you go?"

"Maybe the Room of Requirement," Hermione said after some thought.

"Here, take my cloak."

Hermione turned and saw Harry holding out his invisibility cloak to her.

"Harry?"

"Take it. I understand if you can't stay here tonight. I don't want you to get caught by the teachers though."

"Thank you, Harry." Hermione hugged Harry tightly. "And thank you, Ginny, for defending me back there."

"What are friends for?" Ginny smiled.

Hermione was silent. She was sad that Ron wasn't there on her side. He was like the rest of the school—he hated her for talking with Malfoy as if Malfoy was her friend. Hermione wrapped the cloak around her and crawled out the hole. She felt that each step she took sounded like thunder. Her heart was pounding so hard that she was sure that any teacher walking past her would hear her heartbeat. She was fortunate enough only to run into Mrs. Norris, who seemed to be able to sense anyone—invisible or not. Hermione ran away quickly as the cat whisked away, probably to fetch Filch. She stopped in front of an empty wall, out of breath. Closing her eyes tightly, she thought with all her might, "I want to get away from everyone who hates me right now, from everyone who doesn't want me to be here." She opened her eyes and saw doors on the previously empty wall. Wrenching the double doors open, she ran inside and quickly shut the door behind her. Hermione could feel the door disappearing from behind her.

Hermione entered the room she was in earlier. She could see the bookshelves filled with leather-bound books of all sizes. She saw the armchair she had slept in earlier and the clock, which now read 1:20. The difference was that there now was a bed added. It was a king-sized four poster with emerald green curtains. _Why does it have to be green?_ But Hermione still walked over to the bed. She was tired and wanted to sleep. Pulling the curtains apart, she stopped short and stared at the sleeping form already on the bed. Draco Malfoy was lying asleep amongst the blankets. His silky platinum blonde hair was spread messily upon his pillow. His mouth lined with soft lips was slightly open for air. His steady breathing lifted his chest and Hermione could see the Quidditch toned shoulders lifting in time with his hidden chest. Even with his toned body, Hermione could tell that he was skinnier than usual, his cheeks were a bit sunken, and his face was etched with fatigue and grief. She couldn't bare to look at the pitiful face. She looked down and saw her robe that she had covered Draco with earlier entwined in his fingers. Hermione could feel herself turning red at the sight of it in Draco's hand and she swallowed to keep her calm.

"Mmm…" Draco turned suddenly, mumbling, "It's… cold…"

Draco cracked his eyelids open and Hermione felt herself panic. She tripped as she tried to back away from the bed as quickly as possible. The thud that resonated through the silence as she landed on her bottom woke Draco. Sitting up suddenly, he stared at shock at Hermione who was on the floor, beet red.

"I… I'm sorry," stammered Hermione.

Draco continued to stare at her before realized her robe was in plain view. He quickly stowed it under the blankets out of view. They were frozen for what seemed like an eternity to both of them.

"I... er… I'll leave now," Hermione broke the silence.

"No." Draco didn't want to be alone. He realized the Room had helped him gain company by giving him the Gryffindor password.

"Huh?"

"Stay."

"What do you mean?"

"Stay with me. Stay with me tonight."

Draco turned away embarrassed. Hermione turned even redder.

"Please?"

"Alright."

Hermione stood up slowly and started to walk towards the armchair in front of the fire.

"It's not good to sleep sitting up."

"I did earlier today."

"But you ached didn't you?"  
>"Er… But there's nowhere else to sleep."<p>

"Here's an extra pillow," Draco pointed at the pillow beside him.

"What? You… You want me to sleep in the same bed as you?"

"I… it's not what you think!" Draco stammered embarrassedly.

Hermione stood and looked at him.

"Why are you being so nice to me? You're always mean to me. Why are you being nice now?"

"I don't know."

Hermione paused for a moment, then inched closer to the bed until she was at the edge of the bed again. Draco scooted to the far opposite end of the bed. Hermione shyly pulled back the corner of the blanket and sat down on the bed. Glancing over at Draco, she saw Draco averting his eyes. Hermione lied down and pulled the emerald green blanket up to her neck. _I can't sleep! This is so weird! This is way too awkward!_

"I'm sorry."

Hermione jumped.

"What?"

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" Hermione whispered.

"For hurting you for the past five years."

Hermione laid there in shock. _Did Malfoy just apologize to me? He apologized about being mean to me all these years?_

"Granger?"

"Thank you, Malfoy. I accept your apology, but I'm still curious. Why are you being nice to me?"

"I don't know."

"Okay."

"You forgive me?"

"Yes."

"Honestly and truly?"

"Yes."

"Thank you." Draco was glad he wasn't facing Hermione, and he knew Hermione wasn't facing him. He could feel the tears sliding down onto his pillow. He felt as a great burden had been lifted from his chest; it didn't hurt as much anymore. He couldn't understand why it hurt so badly one moment, but better the next.

"You're welcome."

"Thank you."

Draco turned around and faced Hermione. Her back was turned to him. He just laid there staring at her petite form and bushy brown hair. He could feel the pain returning to his chest. _Dammit. Why does it hurt?_ He wondered if Hermione knew. She was smart, smarter than he was. Maybe she'd know what was wrong with him because he had never read about any of this and had never experienced it before.

"Granger?"

"Go to sleep. I'm sorry, but I'm tired," Hermione said softly.

Draco pulled the robe from under the blanket and placed it underneath his head. It was more comfortable with a higher headrest. He heard her steady breathing as she fell asleep two feet away from him. He could ask her tomorrow what these symptoms of pain meant.

"As you wish."

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><p>AN: I ask for reviews, but no one gives any. SO PLEASE GIVE REVIEWS! I think you guys like it because of the amount of emails I get that notifies me that you guys are subscribing or favoriting, BUT I WANT REVIEWS TOO!


	5. Chapter 5: The Present

A/N: Reviews…. Reviews please.

Sorry it took so long to finally load this *coughmuggleschoolcough* This is a pretty longish chapter, so yeah. Hope you enjoy!

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><p>Hermione breathed in deeply, inhaling the sweet smell of mint and some other nice unrecognizable substance. She was felt safe for the first time in a long time and she snuggled against the warm chest.<p>

_Snuggled? Chest?_

Hermione's eyes snapped open and she saw Draco's face closer than she had ever seen it in her life. Ever. She opened her mouth ready to scream, but she slammed her mouth shut before a sound could escape her lips. Draco was sleeping so peacefully, Hermione couldn't bear to wake him up. She studied his face—his blonde lashes were long and brushed against his cheeks; he had a nice chiseled jaw and his cheekbones were prominent, probably because of how skinny he seemed lately. Blushing, Hermione closed her eyes. _God, I feel like a creeper watching him sleep!_ She could feel herself getting warmer and warmer. The embarrassment she felt at the moment, add the blanket, add the fire, and add Draco's body heat made Hermione burn up and she could feel herself starting to sweat. She desperately wanted to move his arms away but she couldn't dare move without waking him up.

After what felt like an eternity for Hermione, she decided to try to escape Draco's embrace. Slowly lifting her left arm, she slowly shrugged Draco's right arm off her shoulder. Pausing briefly to make sure Draco hadn't wakened, she started to slowly inch off his left arm. Draco stirred. Hermione paused. She could feel her heartbeat quickening. When she thought it was safe to move again, she moved a few more inches.

_Shite, the edge of the bed._

Hermione slid her legs off the bed first, then, holding onto the edge for support, lowered her body onto the floor.

_Safe._

"Hermione?"

Hermione paused. Did Malfoy just call her name, her first name, in his sleep? Kneeling, she peeked over the bed and saw Draco's eyes looking straight at her. The surprise of seeing him awake knocked her backwards.

"I'm so sorry, Malfoy! I didn't mean to wake you!"

"Did you fall off the bed?"

"Er… no."

"Okay."

Draco turned over onto his back and covered his eyes with his right arm.

"Godric, I'm so tired," Draco yawned, "What time is it?"

"Uh…" Hermione glanced at the clock on the mantel, "7:05."

"So early…"

"Sorry."

"Why are you apologizing? And what you doing on the floor?"

"Er… long story."

"I bet you fell off." Draco laughed.

"I did not!"

"Whatever," he smirked.

Hermione blushed. _Why am I blushing?_ But Hermione couldn't help but think that he was actually very attractive especially the way he looked now—messy hair, ruffled shirt, exactly the opposite of what he would look like in public. And he was gorgeous lying on the bed, no strange meaning intended; it was something Hermione definitely didn't see everyday. The emerald green color of the bed sheets and blanket looked beautiful against his pale skin and light blonde hair. Draco leaned onto his elbow and looked at Hermione, who was still sitting on the floor. Chocolate brown eyes met silver grey eyes.

"Why are you being so quiet?" Draco inquired, raising his eyebrow.

"Huh? What?" Hermione blushed, snapping out her daydream.

"You are acting really strange this morning."

"You would, too, if you woke up in someone's arms!"

"What?" Draco was taken aback with surprise. Hermione blushed and looked down at her feet. "What do you mean by 'in someone's arms'? Please don't tell me… no." Draco sat at with a look of shock and embarrassment. Hermione didn't say anything.

Awkward silence.

More silence.

"Why won't you say anything?" Draco raised his voice.

"Because you said not to tell you! Don't yell at me!" Hermione snapped.

"Oh Godric," Draco sighed and fell back onto the bed, "I am so sorry, Granger. And I cannot believe I slept hugging a mudblood of all people."

"Thanks," Hermione retorted angrily, anger boiling up insider her, "As if I wanted to sleep in the same bed as you! You're the one who said I could and I thought it'd be rude to decline the offer after you politely offered it."

"Well, you could've! When have you ever actually done something I asked of you?"

"Will you stop yelling at me? Why did I even think that you might have changed into a decent person?" Hermione yelled. She stood up and fixed her dressing gown. "I don't know if you forgot, but I defended you yesterday and now you insult me? And why were you trying to sneak into the girls' dorms last night? Decided you wanted more than the Slytherin girls? More importantly, how did you get our password? My house doesn't trust me anymore because _you_ were in Gryffindor tower! How is any of this fair? It's your fault! Ronald was right! You are a git! A foul evil little cockroach! Why did I even bother trying to be nice to you? Only Ginny and Harry will talk to me. I'm sure Neville and Luna will, too. I wish they were here. I need their kindness right now. And Ronald hates me because I tried being nice to you because I thought you were becoming nice because I thought you might have come in contact with reason. Argh! What am I saying? I don't even understand what I'm saying!"

Hermione ranted on for close to ten minutes. Draco sat there stunned. He thought she looked quite stunning with her bushy hair even messier and her dressing gown was a bit askew after the pacing and hand motions Hermione had included in her rant. She had such emotion as she poured her troubles out to her school bully; Draco couldn't help but feel a deep affection for this witch that he had hated for so long. He continued to stare at her as she paced back and forth beside the four- poster bed. Draco snapped back to reality when Hermione suddenly stopped and turned to face him. She stared at him with glaring eyes. He stared back with confused eyes.

"I'm leaving," Hermione said suddenly, and she turned on her heels and headed to the door.

"Wait!" Hermione stopped.

"What is it, Malfoy?"

"Uh… Nothing."

"Fine. Bye."

"Bye," Draco said barely above a whisper.

Hermione opened the door that had appeared a few yards away from the bed. She walked out briskly and closed the door, putting a wall between her and Draco. She slid her back down the wall and fell onto the floor, sitting there in silence. _His eyes. Oh Godric, those eyes will be the death of me. Those beautiful grey eyes…_ _No! It's Malfoy! I can't be attracted to him! Oh no, what's happening to me? I can't like him! I hate him! _Hermione grabbed her hair and placed her forehead on her knees. Her internal conflict distracted her from her surroundings and didn't hear someone walking down the stone hall.

"Granger, what are doing?"

Hermione glanced up at once with a gasp and stood up quickly. Snape had appeared from around the corner. His hair was as greasy as always and he wore his usual black bat-like robes. _Does this man ever sleep?_ Hermione thought to herself.

"I'm… nothing, sir."

"Then why are you on the sixth floor, two floors above your tower, in your dressing gown?"

Hermione had forgotten she was still in her dressing gown and blushed, realizing she was standing in front of one of her professors, Snape to make matters worse, in her nightdress.

"I sleepwalk sometimes."

Snape glared at her with his cold pitch- black eyes. After a few moments, Snape decided to let the prefect off the hook.

"Do not let me catch you out of your dorm wearing inappropriate day attire again."

"Yes sir," Hermione said with a flush to her cheeks. _Godric, this is so embarrassing._

Hermione ran back to her dorm. She entered the common room and saw that it had been decorated overnight. A giant tree decorated with beautiful ornaments and hundreds of tinsels stood in the corner. Wreaths and strings of pine lined the edges of the wall and Christmas lights twinkled everywhere.

"Christmas. I had forgotten."

She felt an instant pang of guilt. _I yelled at Malfoy today and on Christmas day, no less. Why did I get angry when he called me a "mudblood?" He always calls me that._

It was empty in the common room because it was still early in the morning for a vacation. She walked towards the staircase leading up the girls' dorm. She paused before continuing, she was nervous to walk into her room; Lavender, Romilda, and Parvati shared the room and they were all angry with Hermione. She wanted to go to Ginny, but her roommates felt the same way. _Why can't I talk to a Slytherin without becoming the most hated person in my own House?_ Hermione opened the door to her room and peaked inside. She could see a pile of presents at the foot of her bed. Her roommates were still asleep. Hermione tiptoed to her bed, gathered her presents onto her bed, and pulled the scarlet curtains closed around her.

She tore open the presents as quietly as possible so as not to inform her roommates that she had returned. Hermione opened the present addressed from her parents first. They had given her Hogwarts: A History – Updated Edition. Hermione had to restrain herself from squealing out loud in excitement. Her favorite book in an updated edition! She flipped through the book for a few minutes before placing it gently next to her. She received a brand-new quill and ink and twenty boxes of Chocolate Frogs from Harry. Ginny had given her book called Hairstyles in Seconds. _I could definitely use one of these straightening charms. _Hermione internally thanked Ginny for such a helpful book. Mrs. Weasley had given her the usual purple jumper. Hermione pulled it on over her pajamas. Mrs. Weasley also gave Hermione a big chocolate fudge cake. _Way too much chocolate_, Hermione thought as she placed the cake next to her batch of Chocolate Frogs. More books and clothes piled up behind her. She noticed that Ron had not given her anything and she frowned slightly.

Hermione was about to grab her opened presents to fold them neatly or pile them in order when she noticed, out of the corner of her eye, a tiny box near her feet. There was no tag or card. She pulled off the green ribbon and opened the black velvet box. Inside was a beautiful diamond ring; it was simple, but beautiful. The small diamonds formed a simple heart. No note, no card, no name. Hermione stared at it with awe. She had never gotten jewelry before, not even at the Yule Ball- all she had was a set of simple earrings. Hermione knew it was strange for a girl not to have bracelets, necklaces, or rings, but it just didn't suit her and she didn't want any, and her parents knew that since she was a small child. But the ring. The ring was different. She placed the ring on her right ring finger. It fit her perfectly. The heart wasn't too much, it wasn't too small. It was perfect.

"I wonder who gave this to me," Hermione thought out loud, but soft enough so no one outside her curtains heard. She sat there staring at her ring, until the sound of her roommates waking up snapped her out of the reverie.

"Presents!" Hermione heard Lavender exclaim.

"Hey, look." Romilda's voice said.

Hushed silence filled the room. Hermione knew Romilda had pointed out that she was back. Hermione felt a rush of annoyance and sadness.

"Let's go see if anyone else is in the common room. We can open our presents there," Romilda said.

Hermione heard a rustle of boxes and packages as her roommates gathered up their presents. They opened the door and slammed it shut, harder than usual. Hermione opened up her curtains and looked around the empty room. Sighing, she got up from her bed and stuffed her new gifts into her trunk and locked it, just in case. Angry girls could go to great lengths to harass others. She changed out of her pajamas and put on a pair of jeans and pulled on her new "Weasley" sweater again. She walked down the stairs to the common room. It was filled with people showing their new things to their friends. Hermione saw people leaving the portrait hole to go to the Great Hall for breakfast and she saw some wearing heavy cloaks and thick scarves, ready to go have a snowball fight. Hermione stepped into the room and everyone stopped talking to stare at her. She could feel herself growing red in the face.

"Uh… hi."

The Gryffindors didn't say anything; they continued to stare at her—some with disgust, some with sympathy, some with hate, and others with anger. Hermione walked quickly through the parting crowd. Before she could crawl through the portrait hole, she heard Ginny call for her.

"Hermione, wait!"

Hermione stopped and turned around.

"I'll come with you, wherever you're going."

"Thanks, Ginny. I need some company." Hermione smiled at her best girl friend. Harry and Ron were her best friends, but with the way Ron was acting, he definitely was not, and Harry, well, he's Harry; Hermione needed girl time.

The two Gryffindors exited the portrait hole and headed toward the Great Hall for Christmas breakfast.

-o-

Draco leaned his head against the headboard.

"What did I do wrong?" He sighed. He closed his eyes and Hermione's livid face appeared behind his eyelids. He saw those chocolate brown eyes sparkling with life.

"Ow." Draco grabbed his chest in an effort to reduce the slight pain. He had felt worse pain, much worse, but this was an uncomfortable and annoying kind of pain he wanted to be rid of. Draco didn't want to go to the Hospital Wing for a mere chest pain. _I forgot to ask Granger what's wrong with me._

Suddenly, the Room of Requirement conjured pictures along the mantel. Draco, curious about what the pictures were, got out of bed reluctantly and walked over to look at the pictures. Some of the pictures were of him playing Quidditch; others were pictures of Hermione laughing with his friends. Chest pains.

"Ow! What the bloody hell? This is annoying. And what is the point of these pictures? They're so pointless." He picked up a frame containing a picture of himself. He was in his second year, during his first game. It wasn't a pleasant memory. He had lost to Potter on his first game, not something he wanted to remember. Draco returned the picture frame to the mantel. Another picture caught his eye—Hermione, Ron, and Harry were hugging each other and laughing; they looked as if they were in Hagrid's cabin. It was fourth year, Draco could tell; Harry was holding the Golden Egg. Draco noticed the trio looked genuinely happy and he wondered if they knew that in two years, they would be on the brink of being torn apart. He returned the picture to the mantel.

Draco decided it was ready to return to his dorm. He'd been gone for almost twenty- four hours; Blaise must be wondering where he was. He slipped on his shoes, grabbed his robe, tucked Hermione's robe in his own out of view, and left the Room of Requirement without a backward glance.

When Draco entered his room, Blaise was still there.

" 'Bout time you returned," Blaise said when he saw Draco enter.

"Sorry," Draco said apologetically.

" 'Tis fine. Open your presents."

Draco glanced at the pile at the foot of his bed. It was a tall pile.

"Later."

"Aw, why?" Blaise frowned, "It's Christmas. You have to open your presents."

"You sound like a child, Blaise," Draco said laughing.

Draco walked over to his pile and looked through them. He decide to open the one Blaise had given him.

"Wow! Thanks, Blaise! I needed this. My broom definitely needs to be groomed." He placed the Broomstick Care Kit to the side and picked up the present his parents had give him. He tore the package open and he held up Hogwarts: A History – Updated Edition.

"Hogwarts: A History? How did they know I needed this?"

"You sound like Granger."

"I do not. And why do you always bring her up?" Draco snapped.

"Just because." Blaise knew exactly why he brought it up, but he didn't want to say anything unnecessary that could irk Draco.

"Don't do it."

"Whatever." Blaise shrugged.

Putting his new book aside, he dug through the boxes looking for something he wanted to open, until a flash of scarlet amongst the sea of green and silver wrapping caught his eye.

"Red?" Blaise questioned as he looked over Draco's shoulder.

"Nobody gives me presents wrapped in anything other than green or silver."

"Well, now there's somebody. I want to say it's a Gryffindor."

"Why would a _Gryffindor _give me a present? Think before you speak, Blaise," he replied, "There's no tag." Draco pointed out as he searched the outside for a name.

"There might be a card inside. Open it."

Draco pulled off the gold ribbon and tore the scarlet paper apart. Blaise was right; there was a card.

_Malfoy,_

_Well, I thought you might have changed into a decent guy, so I'm going to give this to you as a Christmas present. I've had this for a while because I thought it looked really nice, but I had no one to give this to; I just bought it on a whim. I think it might look nice on you. I hope you like it._

_Happy Christmas,_

_Hermione G._

"It's from Granger," Draco said quietly as he handed the card to his friend. Draco picked up the box and opened it. Inside was a beautiful silver silk tie that reminded Draco of snow and ice. He lifted it out of the box to show Blaise.

"It's nice," Blaise said.

"Yeah. It's not as nice as my other ties, but it is pretty amazing. How did she afford this? I highly doubt it was cheap. It's fine silk after all."

" 'It's not as nice as my other ties'? That's not very nice. And I guess she had a lot of money during her 'whim.' Anyways, she said she thought 'you might have changed.' Didn't the Yule Ball only take place two days ago? When did she have the time to wrap this and give to a House Elf to add to the pile? She's been missing from the school for as long as you have."

Draco didn't say anything. He, too, had given her something. He used the time between storming out of the Slytherin common room and entering the Room of Requirement to order a House Elf to give it to Granger on Christmas. Draco had it pre-wrapped, waiting in his pocket.

Draco stood up and walked over to the large mirror next to his wardrobe. He tied the tie around his neck and looked at it.

"Not too bad. Definitely goes well with your hair."

"Now you sound like a girl, Blaise." But Draco did have to admit; it did look quite nice on him.

"I'm just saying the honest truth." Blaise laughed.

"Let's go to breakfast," Draco said.

"You're not going to open your other presents?"

"No. Later."

"Well, okay then. Are you going to wear that tie? Granger might see."

"I don't think so. She seemed distraught this morning and plus, she told me the whole school hates her because of me. She's not going to be eating in the Great Hall anytime soon."

"Why do you think that? The school hates you, too, no offense."

"None taken. I'm a Malfoy. I don't care what people think."

"Good point." Blaise smiled. Draco smirked.

The two Slytherins exited the Slytherin dungeon and headed towards the Great Hall for Christmas breakfast.

* * *

><p>AN: My stats shows amazing visits and hits for this fanfic, but REVIEWS! THE LACK OF REVIEWS IS UPSETTING! To make this easier on you, send me :) if you like it or a :( if you don't like it. Will that be easier? So me smiley faces. Please.

And once again, I "dissed" twilight.

Oh! I know how I want to end this fanfiction! I don't know how long that'll be though…

remember review with a :) or :( because you guys don't seem to want to write reviews.

:) or :(

:) or :(


	6. The Author's Notes

A/N: Sorry… this isn't a new chapter. I just wanted to make some things clear. Things I will be clearing up in this random author's note are:

1. The Princess Bride

2. Muggle school

3. Hogwarts professor

I will tie The Princess Bride into the story much more, although probably subtler than now. But right now, I can see near the end. Unfortunately, I have the last chapter written, but to get there is another thing. I hope you stick with me all the way to the end.

The reason for my slow upload is because I haven't been able to write that often as of late because of freaking MUGGLE SCHOOL! Along with being an Arithmancy professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, it is really hard to find time to write between muggle school (I am in my undergrad engineering program) and being a Hogwarts professor. So, I hope that I will be able to load another chapter this weekend. I promise I will have a chapter uploaded this weekend. It's a long chapter, partly because there's a lot of dialogue. I hope you will enjoy it.

Sorry for the random author's note. I think you were expecting another chapter if you're a subscriber or just a new reader and dying to know what happened next.

OH WARNING! IF YOU LIKE TWILIGHT, STOP RIGHT NOW! IF YOU HATE TWILIGHT, PLEASE CONTINUE! (trust me. if you like twilight, you DO NOT want to continue with this fanfiction. And no bashing please.)

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><p>Preview of Chapter 6:<p>

Hermione was laughing with Ginny as they ate their breakfast. She didn't care that everyone threw her suspicious looks every now and then; all she cared was that she had her best friend with her. Ginny wasn't angry with Hermione and she was grateful for it.

-x-

Draco was talking about a muggle book he had read in the Room of Requirement. He found it funny how a vampire was described as _vegetarians_. He was describing the various things that were the total opposite of vampire, but the author had chosen to describe them as.


	7. Chapter 6: The Start

A/N: WARNING! If you like Twilight, do not continue reading; I do not want to deal with the Twihards. If you hate Twilight, go right ahead and read. I hope you like this chapter :D

After I loaded this on, I noticed it wasn't as long as I had expected, but oh well. (partly because of what I did to the end of this chapter) I'm halfway done with Chapter 7, so that will be uploaded next week.

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><p>Hermione was laughing with Ginny as they ate their breakfast. She didn't care that everyone threw her suspicious looks every now and then; all she cared was that she had her best friend with her. Ginny wasn't angry with Hermione and she was grateful for it.<p>

"When we get back to the dorms, we should try some of those hairstyles on you."

"Definitely. I'd love to see what I look like without poofy hair."

"Haven't you? The Yule Ball in fourth year? You did your hair yourself."

"Well yes, but I spent my time in a muggle fashion. That's why it took me four hours to get my hair like that. And even then, it was still curly."

"Well, it's not poofy hair."

"I want straight! Geez, Ginny!" Hermione gently elbowed her in the arm.

"And what about this Yule Ball? It wasn't poofy either."

"I never saw myself in the mirror," Hermione mumbled.

"Oh yeah… I'm sorry for bringing it up."

"You don't need to apologize, Ginny."

"Speak of the devil. Look." Ginny pointed towards the doors to the Great Hall. Hermione spun around on her bench and saw Draco and Blaise walk in. She noticed him looking quite happy has he talked excitedly to Blaise. _I wonder what he's talking about so intently._ Then, Hermione saw it; Draco was wearing the silver tie she had given him as a Christmas present.

"Ginny, he's wearing the tie I gave him for Christmas," Hermione whispered softly.

"You gave him a present? Why?" Ginny bent forward, very interested, so she could talk softly her friend.

"Well, I had thought he had changed into a decent guy, but I was wrong though." Hermione started to explain last night and this morning. "And I got an unusual gift, too. I forgot to mention it to you." Hermione showed Ginny her right hand.

"It's beautiful! It looks like it's goblin-made." Ginny exclaimed.

"I think it is, too. But goblin- made jewelry is expensive. I don't know who could've given it to me."

"Maybe Malfoy?"

"Don't joke Ginny!"

"I'm just saying! Who here can afford such a ring?" Ginny laughed.

"Probably plenty of people. And well, he'll never give me a present, so he's off the list," Hermione said.

"You were too quick to decide that."

"Because I don't need to think about it. He didn't give me a present, he won't give me a present, and he'll _never_ give me a present. It's _Malfoy_. His name is enough to cross him off the list."

"Hm… good point." Ginny said with a thought, but she knew deep down—Malfoy didn't hate Granger; his inner conscience knew that he liked Granger (according to Zabini). Blaise had told Ginny and Harry a few days ago that sometimes Draco would mutter in his sleep and Blaise, being the close friend he was to Draco, noticed how Draco would go out of his way to find Hermione to talk to her, even though every word said to her had been cruel. Though, Blaise said, Draco would only say that he was bored and wanted to bully Granger, Blaise knew there were ulterior motives.

-o-

Draco was talking about a muggle book he had read in the Room of Requirement. He found it funny how a vampire was described as _vegetarians_. He was describing the various things that were the total opposite of vampire, but the author had chosen to describe them as.

"Can you imagine a vampire who doesn't drink human blood? It's the only way for them to stay alive, figuratively."

"That is quite absurd. Who was the author?"

"Don't remember. I just remembered the contents. And the author said vampires sparkle in the sun."

Blaise splurted his pumpkin juice all over his plate and started coughing.

"Wh-what?"

"Exactly what I said." Draco laughed.

Draco continued to amuse Blaise with details of the muggle book he had read the day before, until Blaise stopped him mid- sentence.

"Look, it's Granger." Blaise pointed behind Draco.

He turned around abruptly and he saw her and the she- weasel leaving the Gryffindor table. Hermione turned her head slightly and Draco could tell she was looking at him. He turned away quickly and looked at Blaise.

"You don't think she saw me and the tie, do you?"

"I don't know. She might've."

"Dammit," the blonde Slytherin muttered under his breath.

"Is it so bad that she sees you wearing the tie?"

"Of course it is! It's embarrassing! It's the tie that _Granger_, of all people, gave to me!"

Silence down the Slytherin table. All eyes turned towards him.

"Nice, mate," Blaise said.

Draco stood up abruptly and stormed out the hall; Blaise followed quickly behind with a muffin in his hand.

"Wait up!"

Draco ignored him. He yanked off his tie and stuffed it into his robe. Blaise noticed this.

"Draco! Wait!" Blaise caught up to Draco and grabbed his collar.

"What the bloody hell was that for?" Draco bellowed massaging his pained neck.

"You wouldn't stop."

"Ugh, sorry," Draco said, "That was mortifying!"

"Well, you _did _overreact though. If you hadn't, you wouldn't have yelled, and you wouldn't have been embarrassed because no one would be the wiser. Now, the whole school knows that she gave you a Christmas present and you wore it to breakfast."

"I only wore it because I thought she wouldn't be at breakfast!"

"She has that spew thing. You honestly expect her to call a house elf to bring breakfast to her room?"

"How was I supposed to know what she would do? I don't care what she does or likes!"

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm damn sure. Don't question me."

"Okay then." Blaise smiled inside.

Draco suddenly saw a flash of poofy brown hair. The person was running rather quickly, running towards the Room of Requirement.

"Blaise, go back to the common room alone. I have to go check something out."

"Okay. See you later then."

Blaise continued on his way towards the dungeons and Draco turned left at the next hallway. He saw her standing in front of the wall, silent. He hid behind a pillar and saw the door appear. She opened the door and went inside, shutting the door quickly. Draco left his place behind the pillar and walked over to where she had been standing before. He asked for the same thing he had asked since the Yule Ball and the door appeared to him in a matter of seconds. Pausing with his hand on the handle, he took a deep breath and opened the door. He was in the same room as before except there were different books this time and a lot of pillows strewn across the floor in front of the fireplace.

"What do you want?" Hermione asked as she turned around to look at Draco.

"I can never have privacy in here any more, thanks to you," sighed Draco.

"Then, find somewhere else."

"Why should I?"

"Because I was here first."

"Do you really believe that?"

"Of course I do! You couldn't have known about this room until this year probably."

"And what makes you think that?" Smirking, Draco walked towards Hermione.

"If you really knew about this, you would have been able to capture us early on last year. Remember? Dumbledore's Army? I still think you are a complete arse, by the way."

"Of course I knew how to get in here."  
>"Liar. I know you didn't."<p>

Hermione looked at him as she called him a liar. Draco felt a tinge of pain in his chest as he looked into her deep chocolate eyes that stared at him. _No, they aren't chocolate- colored; they're mud!_ Even as he thought it, he could feel his heart quickening. They were standing so close to each other; Draco could hear her breathe.

"Whatever you want to believe." Draco smirked.

"Oh, wipe that stupid smirk off your face."

He didn't notice before, but as he watched her skim through the shelves for a book, he noted that she had a very nice figure, usually hidden with a robe. He had a sudden urge to come up to her and take her in his arms and…

"Hey, Malfoy!"

Draco snapped out of his trance.

"What?"

"Get that book for me."

"Are you ordering me around?"

"Yes. Get that book for me. You're tall."

"You can't order me around."

"And why not?"

"Because I'm a pureblood and you are just a mudblood."

"Not a legit reason. Get that book for me."

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Come on!"

"No."

Hermione punched him lightly in the chest and Draco feigned a grimace. Then, something caught his eye and he grabbed her wrist and held her hand up.

"You're wearing it."

"What?"

"The ring."

"What about it?"

"You're wearing it."

"You know about it? I received it this morning, but there was no card or tag at all."

"I gave it to you."

"You?"

"Yes."

"You… gave me a present?" Ginny had been right. How could she have known? Lucky guess?

"I had no idea you would wear it. It looks nice on you." _Has her wrist always been this tiny?_

Hermione blushed. _He complimented me?_

"Um… will you let go of my hand?" Hermione asked shyly, her eyes averted.

Draco dropped her hand and stormed off to another bookshelf, obviously embarrassed. Hermione stood there fiddling with the ring, which now seemed to radiate heat on her skin.

"Oh, Malfoy, I saw earlier that you have received my present," Hermione said, trying to break the silence.

"Yeah."

"Um, do you like it?"

"Why would I wear it?"

"Does anyone know about it?"

"Blaise…"

"Well, that's okay."

"… And the whole school."

"Excuse me?" Hermione snapped her head towards Draco in shock.

"Not my fault."

"So it was Blaise's? I am going to kill that boy!"

"No, it wasn't. It was yours."

"Mine? How?"

"If you hadn't been at breakfast, I wouldn't have gotten nervous that you might see me wearing it, and I wouldn't have yelled out loud that you had given it to me."

"So it _was_ your fault!"

"No. It was yours!"

"It was obviously yours! You got angry and it got the better of you! If you learned how to control that temper, you wouldn't have told the whole school about the tie."

"I don't need to control anything. You just need to be somewhere else when the time calls for it!"

"And explain to me how in the world I would have guessed that you would be at breakfast? I was hungry and plus, you could've called a house elf."

"I can't believe you suggested that yourself. I guess the spew thing is just a cover up for something else."

"It's S.P.E.W. And it's true that you do that. You should've known that I wanted to eat and that I would never call a house elf!"

"How was I supposed to know that?"

"You just should!"

"Argh, you are so frustrating, Granger!"

"Same with you!"

They both went to opposite sides of the room and hid themselves out of sight amongst the bookshelves. They stayed in their respective sides for a few minutes before Draco broke the silence.

"Granger."

"What is it, Malfoy?" Hermione replied with a bitter voice.

"Sorry."

"What?"

"I'm not saying it again."

"You apologized?"

"What of it?"

"You never apologize."

"That's not true. I apologized last night."

Hermione blushed when she was reminded of the night before. She remembered clearly Draco apologizing to her. He was so kind last night; this morning, he was an arse.

"Oh yeah, I had forgotten," she fibbed.

"How could you forget?"

"I don't know."

Silence.

"Where's my tie?" Hermione asked suddenly.

"Your tie?"

"The tie I gave you, the silver tie."

"In my pocket."

"Okay."

"And it's my tie, not yours."

"If I remember correctly, I bought it."

"If I remember correctly, you gave it to me."

"Why aren't you wearing _my_ tie?"  
>"I'm not wearing <em>my<em> tie because it got too hot."

"In the halls of Hogwarts on Christmas?" Hermione questioned with a tint of laughter in her voice.

Draco was silent. Then suddenly, for some reason, he was finding it extremely hard to breathe; his heart rate was quickening the more he talked and his breathing was shortening.

"Malfoy?"

Silence.

"Malfoy?"

More silence.

"Malfoy!"

* * *

><p>AN: I wonder if the cliff-hanger can give me some reviews hehehe *evil laugh* it originally wasn't supposed to be such a cliff-hanger, but I decided to be mean. REVIEWS = not such horrible cliffhangers from now on just fyi (until reviews stop of course)

i'm sorry for the cliffhanger...


	8. Chapter 7: The Sickness

A/N: Tada! Chapter 7! I will be uploading a new chapter every week hopefully. Muggle school is getting more heinous and difficult. Fortunately, I have a small class to teach at Hogwarts because Arithmancy isn't a popular subject (they don't know the beauties of it **sigh**), so I don't have much to grade. But I've been tired lately. The Time Turner helps me go to muggle school and teach at Hogwarts, but it's very tiresome. It's like living two days in one day. Tough!

Sorry 'bout getting off topic. Enjoy the new chapter! If you lost track of which day it is in the fanfic like I did as I was writing this, it is day 3. Yule ball= day 1. Fight with Ron and the Gryffindors= day 2. Day 3= Christmas to present.

* * *

><p>"<em>Malfoy!"<em>

Hermione was starting to panic. He would usually answer her once she yelled loud enough, even when he attempted to ignore her in previous years. She ran over to the other side of the room and finally, behind the third row of books, Hermione saw Draco curled into a ball in obvious pain and discomfort.

"Malfoy! Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"First, stop yelling. Second, I need to know something."

"What is it? What do you need to know?" Hermione was panicking.

"Why does my chest hurt? It's not like usual pain; it's like an unbearable ache. Sometimes, I find it hard to breathe and I start sweating profusely. And I've experienced much worse pain than this, but I just can't seem to stand this type of pain. I've looked through the medical books I could get a hold of, but I haven't found anything."

"Unbearable ache in your chest, hard to breath, and lots of sweating?"

"Yes."

Hermione had a hunch about what was "wrong" with him, but she was hoping she would be wrong. It would be much too awkward.

"I think I may know what's wrong with you."

"What?" Draco asked seriously as he pushed himself up into a sitting position.

"It is kind of… weird."

"Weird? Is it lethal?" Hermione had to laugh; Draco sounded serious. He wasn't too happy about her laughing however, and scowled at her.

"No. It's more like… do you fancy someone?"

"What? That's a weird question to ask someone who could be dying at the moment, isn't it?"

"You aren't dying. Trust me."

"So what's wrong with me?"

"I think you are lovesick."

"Lovesick? Want to be sent to St. Mungo's, Granger?"

"No thanks, but that's the first 'illness' I can think of that has those so called symptoms," Hermione grinned, "So who's this poor unfortunate soul?"

"Excuse you. She is very lucky if she could attract my attention. But as I said before, I don't have anyone I fancy. Done."

"Well, then, I don't know what's wrong with you. Go to Madame Pomfrey if it hurts that badly."

"For a simple chest ache? No way!"

"Fine, your choice. I can't help you then."

Hermione plopped down on the floor next to Draco, who was sitting upright again. Draco was looking at Hermione in his peripheral vision. She had pulled a book off the shelf and was reading the flap containing the summary.

"Have you ever read this book?" Hermione asked Draco suddenly. She held up the book to him. _The Princess Bride_.

"Never," Draco said reaching for the book.

"It looks good, doesn't it?"

"Sounds too sappy for me," Draco replied as he glanced at the summary.

"Well, I'm going to read it. Give it here." Hermione reached out a hand towards him. Draco stared at her hand. "Malfoy?"

"Here. Have fun reading it," Draco said handing the book back to her. Hermione took the book and opened up to the first page.

"Okay, what do you want?" Hermione looked up from her book; Draco had been watching Hermione attempt to read the book. She was having a hard time however because he had been sitting there gawking at her.

"Oh. Nothing. Just watching you read."

"That's awfully creepy. Do something else."

"Like what?"

"Read? There's a hundred books around you right now."

"Not interested right now."

"Not interested in books? That's absurd!" Hermione exclaimed, closing her book and placing it on her lap.

"For a bookworm, yes. For a normal person, no."

"And when have you ever been normal?" She playfully glared at him accusingly.

"Always." Draco smirked.

"Yeah, right! You can't be normal."

"Well, not completely normal, I guess," Draco said with a slight bitterness to his voice; a gloom settled over his face.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"You suddenly seem very upset about something."

Draco looked over at Granger. She saw the sadness in his eyes and she felt a twinge of pain as she peered into those cold silver eyes.

"Granger?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I confide in you about something?"

"Of course," Hermione said with a curious look. She learned new things everyday. Today's lesson? Malfoy has a side other than the mean and rude boy.

"Please, don't shun me. I couldn't do anything. I was trapped."

"What are you talking about, Malfoy?"

Draco scooted himself forward so he was directly in front of Hermione. He pulled up his sleeve and bared his left arm. Hermione gasped loudly.

"Malfoy…" She covered her mouth in shock; she couldn't tear her eyes away from the mark burned on Draco's skin.

"I didn't want it, but he was going to torture my mother, and my father is already in bad standing with him. It was the only thing that I could do to save my parents."

"Why would he want you? You're only sixteen!"

"He wants me to kill someone."

"Excuse me?" Hermione tore her eyes away from the Dark Mark and looked into Draco's silver eyes.

"He wants me to kill Dumbledore."

"No…" She reached out to touch his arm in a gentle comforting manner, but Draco snatched his arm away and covered it up before she could touch his skin.

"I don't know what to do, Granger! I can't stand it! He's getting angry because it's taking so long, but I just can't do it! I can't kill Dumbledore, but if I don't, my parents could be killed." Draco folded his legs in front of him; his elbows rested on his knees, his hands clutching his blonde locks. Hermione had never seen Draco like this and felt an instant surge of pity. Before she knew what she was doing, she reached out and pulled Draco into a hug.

"Shh… Draco Malfoy, you will be okay."

They sat there in between the bookshelves, Hermione holding Draco and Draco crying into Hermione's shoulder. It felt better crying to someone alive than to someone dead residing in the girls' bathroom. Hermione just couldn't seem to be angry with Draco at all now. She knew that he was suffering greatly; he didn't want to kill Dumbledore, but he had to. All she could do for the conflicted boy was to hold him and provide him a moment of safety within her arms.

-o-

"Where's Hermione?"

Harry asked when he looked up from his favorite book, _Quidditch Through the Ages_, and saw Ginny crawled through the portrait hole alone.

"I don't know, Harry. One moment she was behind me, the next, she was gone."

"Bet she went to see Malfoy," Ron spoke disgruntledly.

"She didn't. Malfoy was still in the Great Hall when she left and I didn't see Malfoy at all on the way back here."

"Ron, I think you should stop accusing Hermione about every little thing."

"I don't like that she doesn't hate the stupid ferret anymore!"

"If I'm not mistaken, I think you're jealous," Ginny said a-matter-of-factly, both hands resting on her hips.

"Me! Jealous? Yeah right! I'm not jealous of anyone!"

"Then, stop being an arse about it, Ronald. Hermione was upset that you and Lavender were always glued at the lips as if a permanent sticking charm had been cast."

"I was _not!_"

"I agree with Ginny."

"You always agree with Ginny."

Harry grinned at Ginny who grinned back.

"And I'm not with Lavender anymore; Hermione shouldn't be upset, if you're telling the truth," Ron said with a slightly kinder tone.

"It's true, but I'm certain she couldn't stand around and wait forever."

"So she chooses Malfoy?"

"I didn't say that she's with Malfoy now, did I? Honesty, Ronald, you are a complete dunce sometimes."

"Whatever. I don't want her with Malfoy and I highly doubt Malfoy would want to be with her much longer anyways. He's a complete pureblood fanatic."

Harry and Ginny looked at each other, something glinting behind their eyes; Ron wasn't with them when Blaise told Harry and Ginny about Draco Malfoy.

-o-

"_She's right, Potter. But let's leave first to allow them to rest peacefully and I'll explain."_

_Harry glanced back at the sleeping forms in front of the fire and followed Blaise and Ginny out the door._

_-x-_

"_So, what do you mean by 'he doesn't hate her'? I'm pretty sure Malfoy hates Hermione a lot," Harry inquired of Blaise._

"_Exactly what I said. Draco doesn't hate Granger."_

"_Explain," Harry and Ginny answered together. They smiled at each other._

"_Well, don't you ever wonder how Draco can find Granger every single day, before, after, and in between classes? He's almost always there to insult Granger, everyday without fail. After class, he'll tell me to help him find Granger; he says that it's boring when he can't insult her. And don't you think it strange that out of all the mud…."_

_Harry and Ginny glared at him._

"…muggle_borns in the school, he bullies Granger like none other? He goes out of his way to track down Granger to talk to her, even though they are rude and cruel words. He will even be late to his next class just so he can have the pleasure of insulting Granger."_

"_No one can be that dedicated to insulting someone. No one can be that mean to someone without developing some sort of crush," Ginny said thoughtfully, completing Blaise's explanation._

"_I never noticed that before," Harry dug through his memories, "That's true. We see him way too much. But, Zabini, he insults me, too."_

"_I know he doesn't insult you as much as he does Granger. I sleep in the same room as him, just wanted to point that out."_

"_But Malfoy can't possibly have a crush on Granger," Harry said._

"_It makes sense, Harry."_

"_Actually, it doesn't," Harry looked at Ginny._

"_It does. He talks about her in class, in the common room, in the dorm, and at home at the Malfoy Manor. Of course, they are complaints, but honestly? How can someone complain that much about someone for five, counting six, years? And he complains about you once in awhile, but it's mainly about Quidditch and your popularity just because of the scar," Blaise explained, "Granger. He talks about her every single bloody day. It's actually quite annoying when it's the same thing over and over every day for five years."_

"_See, Harry?"_

"_But… Malfoy?"_

"_I know it seems strange, but I've known Draco since before Hogwarts. He's learned to suppress any 'weak' feelings, so he's shrouded himself in a cloud of anger and bitterness and rudeness. I think his father is to blame for how Draco turned out. I don't think even he knows that he fancies Granger."_

"_It's still strange to comprehend this."_

"_I know."_

_-x-_

Hermione sat there leaning against the bookshelf, stroking Draco's hair. It had a calming effect on him. In a matter of moments, he had wiped away his tears and was once again peaceful; his head rested on Hermione's shoulder. It was already past noon and the evening was drawing near. Draco seemed like a small child as Hermione sat there hugging him and stroking his hair.

"Hey, Granger?"

"Yes?"

"This feels nice."

"It does."

The continued to sit in silence for awhile. Slowly, Draco lifted his forehead from Hermione's shoulder. He stared into her eyes. Hermione felt her breathing becoming more difficult as she looked into the depths of his sad silver eyes. Draco could see such warmth in those chocolate-brown irises, and now he realized what he had been feeling all along since that night. He felt safe with her, a way he hadn't felt for a very long time, much too long. He knew that Hermione would be someone who he would want to protect from the war that was fast approaching- more than his parents, more than his best friend Zabini.

"Granger?"

"Yes?"

He leaned closer.

"Remember earlier, when you asked me if I fancied someone? I think I know who it is now."

She could feel his breath on her cheek.

"Really? Who?" She whispered.

And Draco closed the gap between them.

* * *

><p>AN: UGH! Sorry for the CHEESINESS! I just had no idea how to write that at all! God, that was so cheesy! I hope you forgive me :/

Sorry for such a short chapter. I had started to write something to follow this, but I decided to start that for chapter 8. And I had planned to add some more "stuff", but I decided to keep it T-rated and plus, it's just 2 days after the Yule ball—way too fast for anything else right? If there are parts later on that is inapropro for a T rating, I'll have an external link for those who want it. More info later.

_**Reviews**_

_**Reviews**_

_**Reviews**_

Same as before: a smiley face :) if you like it. a frowny face :( if you don't like it. (IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT TO WRITE) And thank you to those who write reviews 3 3 3 They give me the will to continue this fanfic. I appreciate it so much!

*shivercheesyshiver*


	9. Chapter 8: The Apologies

A/N: Finally, chapter 8. I'm sorry this took three weeks to upload. And it's not even that long. The end of the semester is approaching and muggle school is being an arse. And I'm being kinda an arse, too; I'm giving my arithmancy students a bit more homework than usual (which I have to grade) because, again, it's almost the end of the semester and I need to finish covering all the materials. I'm happy I teach smart witches and wizards (they are the only ones who are willing to take arithmancy lol). Imitating a young muggle college student and being an extremely young Hogwarts professor is pretty difficult *sigh* I don't know if I should just quit my job as Hogwarts professor next year and return the beautiful time turner…

Oh. I just finished my muggle calculus exam.

* * *

><p>Opposites attract.<p>

That has been true in chemistry and physics. It always has.

What about love?

Well, chemistry is science.

Chemistry is a connection between the naked eye and the microscopic.

To the eyes of everyone around them, and to them too, there was nothing, but microscopically, below the surface, something was appearing.

A discovery.

A discovery that could change history.

The moment their lips touched, there was a connection—a tingle in the toes, a shock up the spine, a squirm in the tummy. It was undeniable. Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger had chemistry. She could feel it. He could feel it. Draco could be himself around her. Hermione could be herself around him. It was definitely unusual considering they threw insults at each other whenever possible every year, every day, since first year, but at the same time, it wasn't unusual at all.

Hermione could feel the butterflies in her stomach as they kissed. It was an amazing feeling for her; definitely something she'd want to feel again. She had kissed Viktor, but it was messy. She had pecked Ron, but he was too shy to go any further. Draco was just right. He tasted of spearmint and his lips were softer than she had expected. And he gave her the butterflies. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her. Draco hugged her waist as she pulled him in. If last week someone had said that he would be kissing Hermione Granger, _the_ _muggleborn_, on Christmas, Draco would've sent him to St. Mungo's. Permanently. What a horrible joke that would've been, right? But that was last week. Everything was different now.

At last, they broke apart. Draco hugged Hermione tightly, wordlessly.

Suddenly, Hermione snapped her eyes open and scooted sideways out of Draco's arms.

"What's wrong?" Draco looked at her with a look of shock and worry.

"This is wrong. This is too weird. You're my enemy. And you hate me. But. But…"

She was starting to panic, from the look on her face, and she looked even more disheveled than usual.

Draco smirked. "So is that it?"

"What are you smirking about?" Hermione snapped.

"I don't have a clue how this happened, but it did. I'm pretty sure something was spiked in my butterbeer at the Yule Ball."

"Don't you dare glare accusingly at me. I did _nothing._ You just seem to be attracted to a _mudblood_, if I am not mistaken. I, however, am not attracted to any purebloods whatsoever."

"Oh shit. No."

"Language, Malfoy, language."

"I kissed a mudblood!"

"Yes, you did, unfortunately for me."

"I freaking kissed a mudblood!"

"What's wrong with you?"

Draco stood up suddenly and sprinted towards the blank stone wall. The Room had given him a door as he wished and he bolted out of there as if the place was set alit with Fiendfyre. Hermione sat there stunned staring at the door until it disappeared once again. _Well, that sure was rude,_ she thought as she absentmindedly touched her lips and she grabbed her book and left the Room.

-o-

Draco ran as quickly as he could through the halls. He was oblivious to those who he knocked to the ground as he pummeled through the crowd of students heading to dinner; he hadn't realized how long they had been in the Room of Requirement together. He ran blindly until he reached the dungeons. He said the password and entered the common room and yelled for Blaise.

"Bloody hell, Draco. Is there a troll in the dungeon or something?" Blaise said as he descended the staircase leading to the dorms. He was just about to head down for dinner along with the flock of hundreds of students.

"Blaise, I did something absolutely unforgivable! I need help! What do I do?"

"No. You didn't kill… him…"

"Kill? What? No! I didn't kill anyone!"

"Thank goodness," Blaise sighed with relief, "So what's wrong?"

"I… I… she… I…" Draco stuttered; he was clearly panicking due to the large amount of hand motions and his crazed look in his appearance.

"You didn't…"

"I did!"

"You raped someone?"

"Wait, what? Of course I didn't! Why would you think that?"

"Something unforgivable? She? What could be something so unforgivable involving a girl that isn't murder?"

"I kissed Granger! That's what's unforgivable, you loony! What the hell possessed me? I didn't get enough sleep and so I wasn't thinking straight. That's probably it. Oh godric, I kissed Granger. I kissed a mudblood…"

"Hey, mate, just wanted to point out that… we aren't alone in here."

Blaise pointed behind Draco. Dreading what he would see, Draco turned and faced a room of at least twenty other Slytherins, staring straight at him. One fifth-year student had dropped a gigantic box of candy, the contents now strewn across the floor around him. A sixth year student and a seventh year student had stopped their snogging to stare at Draco. Pansy had stopped mid-step, who had been heading towards Draco ready to secretly pounce on him. Fourth year students stopped in their tracks, who had been about to head out door; even among the younger classes, fourth year and below, knew about the bitterness between Draco and Hermione. _Dammit, why is it that there are always people around when I lose my cool or do something stupid?_

Draco grabbed Blaise's jacket and pulled him out the common room and away from the eyes bearing into him. He pulled him into an abandoned dungeon classroom and slammed the door shut.

"Arrgh! Why is my luck horrible?" Draco yelled as he fell onto the floor.

"Well, you were too blinded by something to see clearly where you were. This has happened before you know. And it's because you lose your temper too quickly."

"I have a right to lose my temper! I can be angry when I want! I just need people to be away from me when I do!"

"Stop being such a child. Life isn't that easy. It can take away everything and everyone important to you as quickly as it was given to you if you're not careful and you are definitely not being careful right now. I know you entrusted your secret with me, but how can I help you when you keep attracting attention to yourself? You need me to help you through this and losing your temper isn't very helpful in the slightest. No one can help you except me. Only I know your secret. Only I can help you, so calm down and think before you speak or act so you don't attract attention. Attention will only make this harder."

"You're not the only one…" Draco remembered, "I told someone else."

"What? Who? You have to be careful who you tell this to, Draco!"

"Granger. I told Granger."

"She's friends with Potter!"

"I know she is!"

"What if she tells him? How could you tell someone like her?"

"I don't know. I just thought she'd understand."

"How would you know?"

"I just do. It felt right."

"When have you ever done anything that just 'felt right'?"

"Never. But I had to. I had to tell Granger."

Blaise sighed and sat down next to his best friend. He had a hunch that Draco was starting to realize how he felt towards Granger. And he kissed her, too.

"Well, nothing we can do now but watch the events unfold."

"I guess."

-o-

Hermione hadn't realized how much time she had spent in the Room of Requirement and followed the crowd of hungry students to the Great Hall for Christmas dinner. It was definitely unusual to have so many students in the castle for Christmas, but almost everyone, fourth year and older, had stayed for the Yule Ball. So much has happened since the Yule Ball—Hermione danced with her bully, Draco; she got into a fight with one of her best friends, Ron; she slept in the same bed as Draco; she received a ring from Draco; she kissed Draco. Passionately kissed Draco to be exact. Hermione blushed when she remembered the kiss and she walked quicker through the halls hoping she would find Ginny at the table already; she really needed her best friend to talk to.

Hermione made it through the hallways much easier because the crowd departed slightly for her. It was awkward, that was true, but she was kind of thankful for it at the moment. She made it to her usual seat and was pleased to see that Ginny was there already and Harry and Ron had yet to arrive. _Good, I can talk to Ginny in privacy._ Hermione plopped down next to Ginny and started her torrent of words.

"Ginny, I need you to know something. Don't freak out okay? I'm not even sure what really happened. Malfoy said that he had this chest pain and he found it hard to breath, and I assumed he was lovesick and he said he didn't fancy anyone and then he told me about one of his deepest secrets and then he cried as I held him and then he said that he thinks he knows who he thinks he fancies and then he kissed me and then…"

"Wait wait _wait_! Breathe! And _what?_" Ginny stopped Hermione's run-on with a look of pure shock and confusion, "Explain the last thing you just said. Now."

"I don't remember what I said," Hermione said embarrassingly; she had just now realized she didn't know what was coming out of her mouth when she used all her breath to pour her thoughts out to her best friend.

"The _kiss_!" Ginny hissed, her face now bearing a look of great enjoyment.

"Oh no, did I say that out loud?" Hermione looked around in panic.

"Not loud enough for others to hear," Ginny smiled.

"Thank goodness," she sighed.

"Well? Explain now. And I want details."

Hermione retold her story from the moment she was in the Room of Requirement until Draco ran from the room, excluding the important and dangerous secret he had entrusted to her.

"Oh, wow, Hermione. I don't know what to say. How do you feel? Do you think he fancies you, _fancies you_?"

"I don't know, Ginny! I don't know what to think anymore! It just seems as if everything that has happened between us for the past five years has all been a figment of my imagination. And what it isn't my imagination? How can I forgive him for that?"

"I don't know. He has bullied you a bit too much, that is true."

"Wait. I have forgiven him," Hermione recalled.

"You have? When? How? Does he know?" Ginny was aglow with curiosity. Hermione couldn't help but feel a great love towards her best friend. She understood her and she didn't hate her, unlike Ron and Harry who had been her best friends since first year and should still be supporting her.

"Remember the night Malfoy sneaked into Gryffindor tower?"

Ginny nodded enthusiastically.

"Well, I went to the Room of Requirement and he was there. There was only one bed… Don't freak out, Ginny! There was one bed and we shared; he had one end and I had the _other end_. Well, he apologized to me. And I forgave him."

Ginny was sitting at the edge of her seat with her hands covering her mouth, smothering the screeches of surprise; her eyes alight with laughter.

"You forgave him?" Ginny finally said, as she was calm enough to speak again.

"Forgave who?" Ron asked. He and Harry had arrived at their seat across from the girls.

"None of your business," Hermione said.

"Who did she forgive, Ginny?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"Why are you always keeping secrets from me?" Ron turned back to Hermione.

"I do _not_ always keep secrets from you. I have very few secrets that I keep hidden from you, Ronald Weasley."

Harry and Ginny flinched when they heard Hermione use Ron's full name.

"Well, then you do have secrets."

"Yes, I do!"

"Why must you hide secrets from me?"

"Why shouldn't I? You're just a friend, Ronald. I don't even tell my mother everything!"

Ron choked back his words and left his mouth hanging open. _Just a friend… a friend… friend… you're just a friend…_

"Hermione has a point. I don't pester her for every detail of _her_ life," Ginny agreed.

"And why should I tell you everything about me? Huh, Ronald? Tell me!"

"Because… because…" Ron faltered. He didn't know how to answer.

"Exactly! Now stop being an arse and be the friend I need and thought you were!"

Hermione stopped yelling to breathe. The surrounding area was watching with bated breath. The Slytherins, whose table was on the other end of the Hall, had stood up to watch. The teachers had their hands in their robes, wand ready, and Professor Dumbledore was walking down the steps. There was a sustained silence ready to be broken.

"Sorry…" Ron muttered, finally, but his eyes averted.

"What did you say? I didn't hear you," Hermione glared.

"I'm sorry, Hermione."

"That's better," Dumbledore said as he arrived at the scene. Everyone looked at him as he spoke. "Friendship is the bond that keeps everyone together. Remember that it will keep us strong in the face of danger and adversity. Don't strain the bonds of friendship over anything." He smiled and then clapped his hands. "Now, I think it is time we all eat. I am quite hungry."

Foods of all kinds and delicacies covered the empty plates and bowls on the tables. Roast turkey, pork chops, steaks, lamb, and all sorts of delicious food took up every inch of the table.

"Food!" Ron exclaimed with pure joy.

"Do you always think about food?" Ginny questioned incredulously.

"No, of course not," Ron said, "I can't believe you'd accuse me of that, my own sister!"

Hermione was already on her second serving of pork chops when the doors of the Great Hall opened. Draco and Blaise walked in nonchalantly and sat down in empty seats at the Slytherin table. No one seemed to care that they had arrived late and continued to stuff themselves with food. Hermione looked away, too, so as to look like she didn't care either. Ron seemed satisfied with that. However, Hermione didn't feel happy at all that Ron had apologized for being a git; she still felt the same as before. _I can never tell Ron. He'll never be the friend I want._ Regardless of how she felt at the moment, Hermione continued to enjoy herself as much as possible; Ginny definitely helped her with that.

Time flew by fast, faster than Hermione thought it would. She and Ginny told the boys they were done eating and would head back to the common room; of course, they, especially Ron, continued to stuff their mouths full of Christmas pudding. Gathering all her new things from the crackers, she followed Ginny out the Hall.

-o-

Draco glanced over at Hermione as she stood up with Ginny. She looked happy and not the least distraught. She looked pleasantly content. He needed to control himself like her, he thought. He smiled slightly as he saw all the things Hermione had gotten from the crackers. As he watched her leave, he wondered if she was still wearing the ring he had given her.

Then, Draco froze. _What am I doing? Why am I staring after her?_ He shook his violently, which brought Blaise's attention.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Well, okay?"

Draco sat there eating his pudding.

"Oh, godric."

"What's wrong?" Blaise asked once again.

"Finish your food now. I need to tell you something."

"I'm done."

"Well, I'm not. I like pudding."

Blaise chuckled to himself and sat patiently as Draco grabbed another bowl of pudding before being satisfied.

"Ready?" Blaise asked.

"Yeah. Come on, let's go."

"So, what's wrong?" Blaise asked for the third time. They were standing in an unused classroom—hopefully, no one would come in.

"I told Granger that I might fancy her. And I don't even fancy her!"

Blaise stood in shocked silence. He had no idea what to say. _I cannot believe he had to wait _to eat pudding_ before telling me this!_

"Why did I tell Granger that I fancied her when I _don't_? She's a mudblood! I cannot fancy someone like her!"

"What if you do and you spoke from your subconscious?"

"Impossible. I don't fancy her, not at all"

"Nothing's impossible."

"Well, this is impossible. Oh no. What if she used a spell or something on me? That's so wrong!"

"Yes, it is wrong. I can't believe you even thought about that."

"What am I going to do? She's going to think I'm a freak if I truly acted of my own free will!"

"I think she already does think you are freak and has been for the past five years. But I think you should treat her nicer, possibly? If you don't want her to think you're a freak, I mean," Blaise added as Draco gave him a fierce glare.

"You think so?"

"Yeah." Blaise was surprised that Draco wasn't realizing what was happening to him—he doesn't want Granger to think of him as a freak; he's worried about what Granger thinks about him if he kissed her of his own will. Draco is definitely book smart, but in regards to everything else, he was absolutely clueless, a complete dunce; he couldn't even tell that he cared about Granger thought about him.

"We'll wait and see," Blaise said to himself.

"What?"

"Nothing. Let's go back. I'm tired… too bad you missed the snowball fight this afternoon, by the way."

"I don't care. My day was okay," Draco said lazily as he walked out the door. Blaise smirked. _Did he say that instinctively or did he mean it?_ And Blaise followed Draco out the door.

* * *

><p>AN: I don't really like this chapter…. But as I said earlier, exams are approaching. Muggle teachers are assigning 100s of homework per day. I don't even know when I can write the next chapter, so that's why I didn't leave a cliffhanger. I hope you'll be patient with me. Once Christmas break starts, I'll be able to write a bunch of chapters, hopefully. Thank you for being patient and I hope you'll anticipate the next chapter. Love ya!


	10. The Author's Notes 2

A/N: As someone has pointed out to me, this fanfic doesn't seem to follow the story line of The Princess Bride. It will. It will. It will. The Princess Bride storyline will come in a couple more chapters. You know The Princess Bride is start to finish, a love story. Draco doesn't realize his feelings for Hermione yet so there's still no "love story" yet.

And somebody wrote to me "Draco seems to warm up to Hermione a  
>little too fast for my liking." Well, he's always liked Hermione since a long time ago, but he just hasn't realized it. So… yeah. And she's the only one who's experiencing the same thing as him at the moment so he's talking to her a lot more often. He's starting to have actions that he doesn't realize he's acting. Gosh, that didn't make sense. Hopefully, you understood me.<p>

And yes, THERE IS OOC. IT'S A FANFICTION. And I clearly remember writing "There will be ooc just a warning." It's the very first sentence of this fanfiction.

So thank you for the reviews/critiques. I will improve my writing although the majority of you seem to approve of my writing.

I'm sorry to disappoint about not having another chapter. It's muggle school. Blame them. I've started chapter 9 already, but I've only written one page. But I do have the layout of the rest of the story and all I have to do is connect it together to form a story.

I appreciate all the reviews and critiques! Keep them coming!

* * *

><p>Chapter 9 Preview:<p>

"No! Hermione!"


	11. Chapter 9: The Trigger

A/N: Finally, chapter 9. There is a twist in this chapter I wasn't expecting, but it just appeared in my head, which somehow magically appeared on paper. And I know it's been a long time since I last updated. Is writer's block a good excuse? 8[

* * *

><p>The rest of the break passed without much happening. Draco and Hermione didn't see each other much after that first kiss; whenever they did, however, they were silent and awkward. The rest of the school had become less bitter towards the two, more specifically, Hermione. Ron was being less of an arse towards Draco. Of course, he had no reason to be anything other than his usual self towards the blonde boy, which was not much different than his jealousy, but it was better. Hermione and Ginny still pondered about Draco once in a while; Harry was the same indifferent friend; and Ron, of course, was Ron.<p>

Draco, on the other hand, was worrying; it was almost the end of the year and halfway through the school year. He had made no progress with the Vanishing Cabinet, and he didn't want any progress, but at the same time he did want the progress. He had received a letter from his mother, Narcissa Malfoy, who had coded their current condition in their home.

_Dear Draco,_

_Everything is fine here. I rarely sleep at night, however, because of worry about you. Your father, too, is worried about you and he is always at the ready for work, hoping to gain some more assets and wealth, although I do not understand why. As the end of the year draws near, stress and impatience is high in the household. There is much to do in the house to prepare for the New Year. I hope you are well and progressing in school. Remember, that your father and I love you and we hope you will be successful._

_Love,_

_Mom_

He tossed the letter aside. _How could she hope he was successful?_ Draco couldn't deal with it; he had a pleasant Christmas break until he received the letter. Yes, he loved his mother dearly, but this letter didn't sooth him, it didn't sooth him at the least. Yes, he knew his mother couldn't sleep because You-Know-Who dwelled in her home and his father, Lucius, kept his wand at his bedside for fear of danger. He knew time was getting tight and he knew that You-Know-Who was getting impatient. He knew he had to get the Vanishing Cabinet to work and he knew that he wasn't using the Room of Requirement to complete his task. Hermione appeared in his mind when the thought of the Room of Requirement flitted across his mind. Draco sighed and fell back on his bed. Things were different after he kissed her; she seemed to be avoiding him and she, unfortunately, was back on good terms with the male Weasel. Draco thought about her often and he still didn't, or maybe wouldn't, acknowledge the fact that he felt much more than friendship towards her.

"Hey, Draco."

Draco turned his head towards the door. His best friend, Blaise Zabini, was standing in the doorway.

"The kids are arriving in an hour. Want to go somewhere quiet to get away from the noise of the returning people?"

"Sure." Draco lifted himself off his bed. He walked over to Blaise. "Anywhere in mind?"

"Let's go down to the lake."

"It's cold."

"Then bundle up."

"Fine, whatever." Draco grabbed his thick wool cloak and followed Blaise out of the dungeons and across the grounds to the Black Lake.

There was a smooth white blanket of snow covering the castle and its grounds. Even the Forbidden Forest looked beautiful and less daunting. As Draco trudged through the snow with Blaise, he faintly heard voices in the direction of Hagrid's hut. As they inched closer to the large hut, he could distinctly hear Hermione's laugh. He continued to follow Blaise, but kept his eyes on the hut with its soft warm glow through its windows. Draco took his eyes off the house as he walked further away.

"The train is arriving."

Draco fell back into reality and looked at the horizon. He stared after the cloud of gray smoke moving quickly towards the train platform.

"You've been quiet for a long time, Draco. What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just bored. I kind of want classes to start again. I miss seeing some people."

" 'You miss seeing some people'? Who are you and what have you done with Draco Malfoy?"

"I don't feel like myself. I feel tired often and uneasy all the time. I think it's due to the fact that I haven't made any progress on the Vanishing Cabinet."

Blaise looked down at the snow. He knew that his friend was going through a tough time right now. Draco wanted to find a way out of this task, but it was difficult to find any escape.

"I don't know what I'm doing down here anyways. I should be working on that cabinet." They had reached the smooth lake. It was peaceful and if it wasn't for the task he had been given that summer, he would've been as equally peaceful, too. Draco stood behind Blaise, watching him toss rocks into the freezing lake. He looked towards the train platform and noticed that the train had arrived. _It's going to be crowded again._ He looked over at Hagrid's hut and wondered if Hermione had returned to the castle to meet some of her younger friends who may have just arrived.

"Huh? Did you hear something?" Blaise lifted his head, straining his ear in search for the sound again.

"No?" Draco looked at Blaise.

Then, that's when Draco heard a twig snap from behind him. He spun around and whipped out his wand. Blaise followed suit.

"Slow, Draco, slow. I thought you had learned better. Your little friend is quicker than you. How disappointing."

Draco kept his wand steady as Bellatrix Lestrange stepped out from behind a tree. She looked as manic as always in her black robes, curly messy black hair, and with a crazed look in her eyes.

"How did you get here? You can't get on Hogwarts grounds. That's why I have to fix the Vanishing Cabinet—so you can get here."

"Oh, we can get here, little Draco, with a little wave of the wand here and there, but what would it look like if a group of _Death Eaters_ walked across these grounds?"

Draco stared at her with a glare. His gaze did not once leave his aunt's face.

"Now now, Draco, now that you've brought up the topic, what is it that is taking you so long? The Dark Lord is not happy. Or are you too _weak_ to do this task?"

"I am not weak!"

"Then prove it! Finish the task the Dark Lord has entrusted to you!"

"_Crucio!_"

Bellatrix let out a yell and fell onto the ground panting. She looked at him with her crazy eyes.

"That's all you can do? You are weak!"

Draco opened his mouth to curse her, when somebody caught his eye.

"Stay away!" Draco yelled instead.

"Malfoy?" Hermione said.

"_Bellatrix Lestrange?_" Ron yelled when he saw the laughing form on the ground and Harry pulled Hermione behind him.

Blaise looked at the trio with panic and yelled _protego_ in time before Bellatrix's spell could harm them. Harry, Ron, and Hermione whipped out their wands.

The battle commenced. Spells were flying everywhere; it was a surprise that only the surroundings were getting damaged.

"Blaise, get help!" Draco yelled as he ducked and a spell struck a tree behind him, sending it into flames. He was sure that someone might hear the battle happening, but he didn't want the chance that someone didn't. Blaise nodded and ran off, blocking any spells that ricocheted towards him as he ran.

The moment that Draco had looked away from the battle to make sure Blaise had heard him, was a moment that Draco regretted instantly; Bellatrix had grabbed Hermione during that short instant. Draco felt a surge of guilt and anger as he saw his aunt's wand pointing at Hermione's temple.

"No! Hermione!" Everyone stared at him; Ron had his mouth agape. "Let go of her, you damn woman!" Draco bellowed with a flame of anger flashing in his eyes.

"Ooh, little ickle Draco is worried about the filthy little mudblood." Bellatrix laughed maniacally.

"You heard him, let her go," Harry spoke slowly. Ron nodded, still unable to speak, and gripped his

"Be careful, boys. You wouldn't want this face…." Bellatrix slid her wand down Hermione's cheek, "… To get hurt now, would you?" She said as she returned the tip of her wand to Hermione's temple. Draco could see Hermione shaking and her tears brimming at her eyes; he boiled with anger.

"Don't attack," Draco said loudly; Ron had raised his wand and opened his mouth to curse Bellatrix, "You could hit Hermione."

Ron raised his wand again in spite; he didn't like the way Draco was acting.

"Ron. Don't attack," Harry also said. Ron lowered his wand.

"Bellatrix Lestrange, I didn't expect to see you here so soon."

Everyone turned and saw Professor Dumbledore walking rather quickly to their aid, wand held in front of him, followed by Blaise and Professor McGonagall.

"Well, now. It was a nice reunion," Bellatrix laughed, "I'll be back, you can guarantee that!" She threw Hermione to the ground and flew off in a cloud of black smoke. Harry and Ron rushed to help Hermione off the icy ground. Draco felt annoyance as Ron put his arm around her waist to help her get to her feet. She looked over at Draco and he felt a pang in his chest.

"Thank you, Malfoy."

"Yeah, thanks," Harry repeated. Ron continued to look at Hermione silently.

Draco only nodded, unable to speak due to an unexplainable, uncomfortable knotty feeling in his throat.

"Come on. Let's go inside," Ron said as he led Hermione in the direction of the castle.

"Yes, let's get all of you inside, quick," Professor McGonagall gestured to them all. She looked around her with worry as Professor Dumbledore paced the perimeter of the area.

"Professor McGonagall?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes, Headmaster?"

"I think we must gather the teachers together to help set up a stronger barrier. We cannot risk our students getting attacked again."

"I agree. I will inform the Head of Houses of these turn of events and tell them to keep their students inside their common room." And Professor McGonagall followed the students inside with a last worried look over her shoulder at Professor Dumbledore.

-o-

"What was all that about? What was Bellatrix Lestrange doing on Hogwarts grounds? How did she get here?" Harry asked.

"And what was with Malfoy? He was weird!" Ron exclaimed.

"Yeah, he was a bit strange," Harry agreed.

"And when has he been on first name basis with you?"

"We aren't. I've rarely heard him use my first name," Hermione answered Ron quietly.

"Rarely? He's used your first name before?"

"Yeah, just one other time."

"And what would this other time be?" Harry asked this time.

"Nothing."

"I thought we wouldn't keep secrets from each other," Ron said grumpily.

"I don't remember promising anything like that."

"I apologized to you remember? And I said I would be the friend you needed?"

"And where in that does the 'don't keep secrets from each other' fit in?"

"If I'm going to be the friend you need, shouldn't you confide in me?"

"Not necessarily. I still want something to be my own. If I release all my secrets, I won't have anything to call my own anymore."

"But–"

"Ron, shut it," Harry warned Ron. Ron fell silent.

There was no way Hermione would tell two of her best friends when he had last called her by her first name; only Ginny would know about that because Hermione trusted her to keep it a secret. How would Ron and Harry react when they found out that Draco used her first name when she had fallen out of _his _bed? Well, not his bed, but a bed that they had slept in together. They would not react like Ginny did; they would probably go find and murder Draco before Hermione could say, "Quidditch."

Silence followed Harry's last statement. It was only 3 pm; Hermione felt like the rest of the afternoon was going to drag on as slow and boring as a flobberworm. After reading three chapters of her new book Hogwarts: A History – Updated Edition, she slammed her book shut and sighed in exasperation.

"For godric's sake, I can't stand the silence."

And by silence, Hermione meant the silence amongst her, Harry, and Ron; the common room was packed with screaming first years.

"Hermione—" Ron started.

"Just shut it. I don't feel like talking. I'm just going to take a walk." And without another word, she left the common room, leaving Harry and Ron staring after her. Fortunately, she was a prefect and so she wouldn't need to worry about the time if she decided to stay out late. As she walked around the halls, she became extremely distracted due to the fact that suddenly, all her memories since break had begun started chasing each other around her brain. Hermione forgot to check around the corner as she hurriedly turned around the corridor and she ran into someone, knocking her over.

"Shit, that hurts," a familiar voice said.

Hermione looked up to see Draco Malfoy staring down at her. Before she could stop herself, she felt herself turn red because just seconds before, she had remembered the kiss.

"Granger."

"Malfoy."

Hermione got up by herself and brushed her robes clean. They stood in awkward silence until Hermione got the courage to speak up first.

"What was Bellatrix Lestrange doing on Hogwarts grounds? How did she get here in the first place?"

"I don't know how she got here, she wouldn't tell me. As for the fact about why she was here… Come on. In here," Draco gestured towards an empty classroom, "I don't want anyone to overhear."

Hermione followed Draco into the empty classroom and waited by a desk as Draco checked to make sure there was no one around and closed the door.

"Well, Malfoy?"

He looked over at her with raised eyebrows.

Hermione sighed. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to sound rude. I'm just angry at Ron."

"He always makes you angry."

"Yes, he does."

"Have I ever made you angry?"

"Huh? Um…" Thinking back, Hermione realized she had never been angry at Draco, only upset. She shook her head.

"Really?" Draco asked, surprised. She nodded.

"I though you'd want to hex me every time you saw me."

"No, I didn't. I don't know why, but I was never angry at you, just upset."

"I'm really quite shocked."

Hermione laughed. She didn't understand why it was so funny, but she laughed and laughed. Maybe it was the look on his face. Maybe it was just the sudden change of atmosphere, but she didn't care; she knew that there would be someone to listen to her when she was sad or angry. Scratch that. Someone would be there to listen to her all the time.

"What's so funny?" Draco demanded.

"You," Hermione was able to say after a few moments.

She saw Draco's ears turn pink and couldn't help giggling a little bit. _Ohmigosh, I giggled. What the hell is wrong with me?_

"Uh, well, back to the topic at hand. Why was Bellatrix on Hogwarts grounds?" she asked.

"Remember what I told you about my… _task_?" Hermione nodded. "Well, there's more to it than just me doing that. Promise me, Granger. Don't tell anyone." Hermione could tell there was something wrong, majorly wrong, but she nodded again. "Right before the task is done, I am to have left open the Vanishing Cabinet to allow the Death Eaters entry to the castle to obtain complete control. Killing Dumbledore was just part two of my task. I have to fix this cabinet soon. Its twin at Borgin and Burkes is fully fuctional, but not the one here. That's why Bellatrix was here today. She wanted to know what was taking me so long. She wanted to inform me the Dark Lord was getting impatient."

By now, Hermione had turned pale. She couldn't believe her ears. This boy before her was part of a plan to kill the Headmaster, take over Hogwarts and eventually, both the wizarding and the muggle worlds.

"We have to go to Dumbledore," Hermione said, breaking the silence.

"No!" Draco snapped.

"But—"

"I said no!"

"This is dangerous and serious!"

"You promised me, Granger!" Draco had grabbed hold of her shoulders as he yelled at her. Her wide eyes bore into his. He immediately regretted lashing out at her and released her.

"Malfoy?" Hermione whispered.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—" And Draco was cut off as Hermione kissed him lightly.

"I'll help you. I'll help you the best I can. And I promise to respect your wishes."

"Granger?"

And with that she left the room swiftly leaving him staring after her in shocked silence.

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><p>AN: I've started chapter 10. When will I upload? I have no idea.

REVIEW

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I know this chapter SUCKS, but I'll still accept reviews about it.

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><p>The interpretation for the letter:<p>

_Dear Draco,_

_Everything is fine here. I rarely sleep at night, however, because of worry about you. Your father, too, is worried about you and he is always at the ready for work, hoping to gain some more assets and wealth, although I do not understand why. As the end of the year draws near, stress and impatience is high in the household. There is much to do in the house to prepare for the New Year. I hope you are well and progressing in school. Remember, that your father and I love you and we hope you will be successful._

Interpret: Narcissa is worrying about Draco. Lucius always keeps his wand at the ready because of the constant fear of the Dark Lord. Stress and impatience is high in the household (_kind of self-explanatory_). I hope you are making progress on the Vanishing Cabinet and that you will be successful with it.

_Love,_

_Mom_


	12. Chapter 10: The Blossoming

A/N: Okay, wow. How long has it been since my last update? I finally opened up my Word Document after a bunch of requests for more. I am writing this chapter instead of studying for my finals this week. Luckily, I only have speech and history.

But yeah, CHAPTER 10 OMGOMGOMG! I hope it's alright…. It was quite difficult because of how long it has been since I wrote Chapter 9 and I kinda, um, forgot what my story was about*gasp * eesh.. reviews please? If you want me to continue or not, just tell me. I'm sure my writing has gone downhill and my writing already isn't that great (I'm not an English lover and I really do not write / I'm the math and science nerd who happens to be writing fanfiction. Weird, huh?) Now, enjoy, this short chapter.

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><p><em>Oh my god. Did I just kiss Malfoy—Draco Malfoy?<em> Hermione thought as she ran through the halls of Hogwarts. She reached the common room—"_pixies_"—and climbed through the portrait hole.

"Harry, have you seen Ginny?"

"You're back early. Came back to explain what happened?" Ron snapped.

"Harry?" Hermione asked again, ignoring Ron.

"She said she was heading down to the Quidditch pitch, but that was more than two hours ago."

"Okay, thanks." And with that, Hermione left again.

"Harry, why did you let her go like that?"

"Why should I care what she does or doesn't do?"

"Because she's our friend."

"And we shouldn't smother her."

"But—"

"You should leave her be. Anyone can see that she's not happy right now."

Ron sank farther into his chair and sulked for the rest of the evening. Harry didn't mind though. He was too busy reading a new Quidditch book. And he knew that no matter how jealous Ron was of Malfoy, Hermione wouldn't consider coming back to the soul-less ginger. He noticed the way Hermione stole glances at the Slytherin table, at Draco Malfoy. He noticed the way Malfoy acted towards his friend. There was no denying it. He may be a guy, but even he could notice these things. The only one who couldn't was Ron, too dense to accept the fact that Hermione didn't feel the same way towards him anymore. Harry wasn't too accepting of the fact that Hermione loved her long-time bully and Harry's archrival, but unexplainable things can happen and Harry was just going to have to accept it. Hermione was smart; Harry trusted her judgment. If only Ron would be as understanding, there wouldn't be any negative tension within the trio like now. He glanced over at his best friend. He was still sulking and staring into the fire with that pitiful gloomy look. Harry sighed and returned to his book.

-o-

_Hmm… More than two hours ago… I think should be seeing her leave the field soon_. Hermione walked quickly down the path heading towards the Quidditch field. Sure enough, Ginny was heading up the path towards the castle. Hermione waved and she waved back with a smile.

"I've got something to tell you!" Hermione yelled.

"Okay!" Ginny ran up the hill to reach Hermione. "So what news do you have?"

Hermione looked around her. "No one's around," Ginny told her.

"I kissed Malfoy. More specifically, I initiated it." Ginny squealed loudly. "But it was all I could think of to calm him down."

"Calm him down?"

"Yeah. He was freaking out about… about school. He doesn't think he's doing well. I promised I'll help him right after the kiss, but I ran out leaving him standing there."

"Whyy?" Ginny asked in an exasperated voice.

"I don't know."

"What am I going to do with you, Hermione?"

-o-

Draco Malfoy wandered aimlessly through the halls of the castle. He was still in a state of shock. Who knew that Granger would be so daring? He was lost in his thoughts until Snape appeared suddenly in front of him.  
>"Mr. Malfoy, may I have a word?"<p>

"Sir?"

"I visited your manor earlier today."

"Then, you found out about—"

"Bellatrix. Yes, I did. The Dark Lord is not pleased."

"I know that!"

"I promised your mother I would protect you."  
>"I don't need protection!"<p>

"I made the Unbreakable Vow."

"Then, that was foolish."

"I spoke with Professor Dumbledore—" "What?!" "—And he has known about the task you have been given since the beginning of this year. He wants to help you, protect you from the task that could endanger your soul."

"I said I don't need protection!"

"Yes. You. Do." Snape said, enunciating each word. His glare stopped the words that hung at the tip of Draco's tongue.

"We are planning to take you away from here, hide you. No one will know, not even your mother and father. Not even the Dark Lord."

"We can't fool him."

"We can."

"How?"

"Somebody will take your place here at school."

"That won't work."

"Excuse you?"

"Sorry, sir, but even with Polyjuice Potion, no one can be me. I'm too special."

"Do not be so cocky. You are no more special than I am."

"Then who could possibly take my place as Draco Malfoy?"

"Hyperion Lestrange."

"What? My cousin? I thought he was dead!"

"Exactly. He will take your place. It will seem as no one is missing."

"But Bellatrix—"

"She cares not. She, too, thinks he is dead."

"But how?"

"I thought you would know your aunt by now. She cares for no one except the Dark Lord, not even her own son."

"I know, but her son?"

"You do not know this, but she was the one who had locked him away out of her sight. I was able to get him out when he had fallen asleep. I told her he was dead and took him back to my house."

"You have a house?" Snape looked at him with cold eyes. "Sorry, sir."

"Hyperion Lestrange is living in that house and he has accepted to take your place in the school and you are to take his. I have been teaching him all the subjects you are taking, so he will not be a complete dunce."

"Will he affect my grades? You know I'm second in the school right now."

"Do you honestly care for your grades at this point?" Draco shrugged. "If you care so much, we will see how well he performs in your place when the plan is carried out."

"Alright." Draco turned to leave.

"There will be consequences if you tell a single soul. You must not tell anyone. Do you understand, Mr. Malfoy? Not even Miss Granger."

"Sir?" Draco turned around in surprise, _how did he know_? His only response was Snape's signature cold glare.

Draco Malfoy turned around again and started off down the hallway slowly before breaking out into a sprint.

-o-

"I'm hungry. Let's go down to the Great Hall for dinner, Hermione," Ginny told her friend.

"Sure," Hermione said with a smile.

Ginny's excited talk of Quidditch was keeping Hermione from thinking too much about the events of that day. Too much had happened in one day—Bellatrix was found on Hogwarts grounds, Draco is aiding in the murder of Dumbledore and capture of Hogwarts, she kissed him. She definitely needed to clear her head.

The Great Hall was packed, now that the students had returned to school. Hermione and Ginny both agreed they liked the Great Hall during Christmas vacation much better. Too many people meant more people to fight for the best foods and that, indeed, was a pain not very wanted. The two girls pushed their way through the throng of people and found Harry and Ron. The plopped themselves down on the benches across from the two boys.

"Thanks for saving seats," Ginny said.

"Of course. Anything for the most beautiful and wonderful girl I have ever met. I wouldn't want to sit with any other girl," Harry winked.

"Argh, gross. Brother here! I want to vomit now," Ron said, disgusted.

Hermione laughed. It felt like normal again. They were talking about going back to class and made fun of Filch and wondered when the next Slug Club "meeting" would be—like normal times.

Dumbledore stood up and with a simple "ahem", he was able to silence the entire Great Hall. She and her friends looked up at the old wizard. She knew that this was going to be more than just a "Nitwit blubber oddment tweak" and she was right. Something had happened today that potentially endangered the students of Hogwarts.

"Welcome back, first, second, and third years. Welcome back those of you who did not attend the Yule Ball. Welcome back to dinner those of you who did. As you well know, at Hogwarts you will all be safe. So naturally, I must inform you about anything that has happened. Today, as you were returning to Hogwarts, Bellatrix Lestrange found her way onto Hogwarts ground. Do not fear; we have increased our defense strength now that all the younger students have returned. However, due to such a state of emergency, our own Professor Snape has agreed to add more to the Defense Against the Dark Arts curriculum," Dumbledore paused to wait for the students' groans to subside, "for the better so you can defend yourselves and others if emergency action is required. I hope that such action are unnecessary, but it is better to be prepared than not. Now on a lighter note, enjoy your meal. We have had a meal prepared to celebrate your return to school."

"Well, that's cheery," Ron said after Dumbledore sat down.

"I don't know if that was wise of Dumbledore to say that so soon after returning," Ginny said, "What if the parents decide to take back their children because of this?"

"I think he did the right thing," Hermione said, "We need to be prepared, unlike last year."

"Oh don't remind us, 'mione," Harry said with food in his mouth, "That woman does not need to ever be mentioned especially during dinner."

"You sound like Ron," Ginny laughed.

Of course it was too good to last. And as usual, Ron was the one to spoil the good mood. His sudden frown and sullen mood that intoxicated the air around them was not a pleasant feeling at all.

"Bloody hell? What is wrong with you this time?" Harry asked.

Ron stared ahead of him; Harry followed his gaze; Hermione and Ginny, too. Low and behold, the late arrival of Draco Malfoy caught Ron's attention and was at the end of the death stare.

Draco shivered and followed the feeling of animosity. He saw the ginger glaring at him with a deep frown. _If he doesn't stop frowning and furrowing his brow like that, he'll become even uglier_. He glanced over at Hermione for a moment and caught her eye. He then felt a pang in his chest and winced. _Again? I thought it was gone!_ He looked away and walked quickly to join his friends.

Hermione looked questioningly after him while Ron continued glaring and Harry and Ginny dug into their food. Ron, for the first time, didn't stuff his face silly when there was food on the table. Even Hermione looked away before the disgruntled ginger did.

"Foul git," Ron muttered.

"What has he done to you this last year that has made _you_ so foul?" Hermione retorted.

"He exists."

"That's a cruel thing to say."

"Why are you defending him? He's been foul to you, too."

"He hasn't been that terrible this year. You just have a grudge for reasons unknown. Even Harry isn't acting like you and Malfoy is more cruel to him."

"Well, Harry is my best friend and whoever hurts him feels my wrath."

"Uh huh… You seem to be the one who ignores him almost every year because something happens to him that you disapprove of or become jealous about!"

"Uh… guys? Can you leave me out of this?" Harry interjected.

"I don't get jealous! And I'm always there for him! When we were fighting, I indirectly helped him for the Twiwizard tournament."

"Once! You didn't even cheer for him during the first trial!"

"Why are we even arguing about me?!"

"I don't know! You probably compared Draco and Harry together or something!"

"Draco? _Draco?_ Did you call Malfoy _'Draco'_?!"

By now, such a statement didn't affect the students surrounding them, considering it happened every night. And the students who just returned were the younger students and didn't know about the rivalry very well. No one paid them any attention as Ron and Hermione bickered. Draco, too, just continued playing with his food with his head resting on his hand, just waiting for Hermione to storm out as usual.

*slam * "Why must you spoil everything?!"

The sound of a fork hitting the table and Hermione's yell made Draco jump a little. _There it is._

"You just take everything too seriously!"

"Well, I'll take my serious attitude somewhere else far away from _you_, you annoying pain in the arse!"

And as everyone expected, Ron shut up and Hermione stood up and stormed out of the giant doors of the Great Hall.

-o-

"I assume you're going to go after her any time now?" Blaise Zabini asked his friend.

"It happens that often?" Draco looked up. _Obviously it does. Why am I even asking_? Blaise only returned a raised eyebrow, not finding it necessary to reply to such a rhetorical question. "Yeah, I'll follow her after I finish this pudding."

"What is it about her that you like? Didn't you hate her because she's a mudblood? And she doesn't seem like your type at the least."

"I don't know."

"Is it because of how smart she is? She is the only one who can compete with you on an academic level."

"I don't know."

"Is it –?"

"I don't know, Blaise."

_I don't know_. _What is it about her that I like? She's not the hottest; she's a mudblood, she's annoying; she's just completely not my type._ Blaise's questions made Draco question what it was about the bushy-haired witch that he liked. But he knew that she was whom he needed; she was the only one who would be there for him and he knew it in his heart. _His heart_.

-o-

Hermione Granger ran to her place—their place—in the Room of Requirement and waited. She waited like she always did, wondering if Draco Malfoy would come to her, like he always did. She loved the thrill of meeting the Slytherin Prince in secret. She loved being able to talk to him. She loved the feeling she had when her eyes fell on his person. She loved _being_ with him, _being_ around him, _being_ in love.

After what felt like an eternity, she heard the door open. She peeked around the corner and saw the white-blond hair she had come to love.

"Malfoy, you came."

"As you wished."

"How did you know what I wanted?" Hermione smiled.

Draco wrapped one arm around her waist and drew her closer, making her blush a deep red. "Because I do," he said quietly.

"So you would do whatever I wished?" she smirked.

"Pretty much."

"If I told you to kiss me, you would?"

"As you wish, my dear Hermione."

He had used her first name. Oh, the way he said her name made her blush an even deeper shade of red and her heart quickened. She just wanted to wrap her arms around his neck and press her lips on his soft lips and never let go. She wanted to feel the defined muscle on his neck when he bent over to kiss her; she wanted to feel the soft silky hair; she wanted to taste the minty breath of this Slytherin.

And then he did. He drew her closer and kissed her.

And it was wonderful.

She slowly brought her arms up and wrapped them around his neck, without breaking their kiss; it was just as she had imagined seconds before.

When they broke apart, Hermione just continued staring into those silver eyes. Without breaking her gaze, she asked quietly, "What are we doing? Doesn't this seem wrong and forbidden?" His only reply was, "The forbidden love is the best kind."

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><p>AN: Reviews.


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